KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia held on to gains in the morning session as investors placed bets that US rate hikes would slow moving forward while China's reopening would bode well for the outlook of the economy.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 7.2 points to 1,487.75 while the broader market had 490 gainers compared with 332 decliners.
Trading volume was 1.75 billion shares valued at RM876.23mil.
TA Securities Research in its market commentary predicted that investor sentiment would improve on the spillover effect from key US stock gauges, which rallied more than 2% last Friday.
However, it said the technical momentum indicators suggest the FBM KLCI could consolidate following last week's profit-taking correction.
It said the local stock market is likely to extend range bound trade, pending more clarity on domestic policies, inflation risks and global economic growth momentum.
"On index chart supports, expect 1,460 and 1,450 to adequately cushion downside, with better supports from 1,420 and 1,400.
"Immediate resistance remains at the 1,500 psychological level, with 1,512, and the August high
near 1,528 as stronger resistance levels, followed by 1,550 and 1,570 as tougher upside hurdles," it added.
Meanwhile, the blue-chip rally was led by Maybank up three sen to RM8.80, Tenaga Nasional gaining five sne to RM9.49, MISC rising 10 sen to RM7.31 and IOI adding seven sen to RM3.98.
Hextar Technologies extended its rally by RM4.50 to RM28.78 following recent news that Datuk Seri Eddie Ong had filled the group CEO position as he bids to build a tech giant.
There was also positive movement in the tech sector on the back of the Nasdaq's Friday rally. The sector gained 2% overall, led hgher by names such as MPI, up RM1.30 to RM31.30, Greatec rising 18 sen to RM4.88 and Unisem gaining eight sen to RM4.01.
Among the most actively traded, CSH gained one sen to 5.5 sen, Cypark was up three sen to 68 sen and Nylex added 5.5 sen to 43 sen.
In regional markets, Japan's bourse was closed for a national holiday. South Korea's Kospi however jumped 2.4% to 2,344 amid the regional push.
China's composite index was up 0.5% to 3,174, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.6% to 21,328 and Australia's ASX200 added 0.6% to 7,152.
