KUALA LUMPUR: A boost in global market sentiment has helped bolster the FBM KLCI to its highest level in two years.
Entering the lunch break, Malaysia's key stock index was up 6.95 points to 1,568.59, its highest since May 31, 2022, while the overall market rally was underpinned by 617 stock gainers compared to 303 decliners and 460 unchanged.
Share turnover in the early session was 2.57 billion units valued at RM1.27bil.
All sectors on Bursa Malaysia were up, led by a jump in plantations. Sector heavyweights included Kuala Lumpur Kepong rising 16 sen to RM22.92, IOI adding three sen to RM4.04 and Sime Darby Plantation
gaining four sen to RM4.44.
Meanwhile, the bourse's property developers also saw buying interest, including Mah Sing up three sen to RM1.28, OSK gaining four sen to RM1.47, IOI Properties adding three sen to RM2.15 and Ewein up five sen to 88.5 sen.
In financial services, Aeon Credit leapt 15 sen to RM7.15 while the country's largest banks were also leading with Maybank up two sen to RM9.84, CIMB adding three sen to RM6.70, Public Bank climbing two sen to RM4.23 and AmBank rising three sen to RM4.21.
Overnight, positive results from US technology firms sparked optimism over the ongoig corporate results period, while a surge in the shares of EV maker Tesla in after-hours trading also helped to shore up sentiment.
Japan's Nikkei was the most improved, rising 2.2% to 38,377 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.67% to 17,110.
The Shanghai Composite Index saw a mild 0.3% increment to 3,301.
In Southeast Asia, the Straits Times Index rose 0.7% to 3,294.
