KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark FBM KLCI ended slightly higher at midday as the index kept to a sideways trading channel ahead of the Chinese New Year weekend.
At 12.30pm, the key index was up 1.27 points to 1,513.63 with a nearly even market breadth of 398 gainers to 347 decliners, and 393 unchanged.
There were 1.29 billion shares changing hands for RM620.13mil.
Blue chips leading the market higher included Genting up nine sen to RM4.90, Telekom gaining seven sen to RM5.89, Kuala Lumpur Kepong adding 12 sen to RM22.44 and YTL Power climbing six sen to RM4.06.
Top actives included Reneuco down 1.5 sen to 5.5 sen, Widad unchanged at 12.5 sne and TWL flat at four sen.
Dataprep was also one of the day's most active, rising 1.5 sen to 14.5 sen, after its Indonesian unit signed a 30-year concession to develop telecommunications infrastructure in Bandung, Indonesia.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped 0.8% to 15,746 as investors grew impatient over aid from Beijing to prop up China's ailing economy.
The mainland China markets, meanwhile, closed for a week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
Japan's Nikkei continues its bullish momentum, gaining 0.7% to 37,120, and South Korea's Kospi added 0.4% to 2,620.
