KUALA LUMPUR: Investors picked up beaten-down blue chips on Bursa Malaysia following the market rout earlier this week although the trading sentiment stayed cautious amid growing anxieties over inflation risk.
The benchmark FBM KLCI was up 2.79 points to 1,603.6, as it bounced off the 1,600-point psychological support.
However, the broader market saw continued selling in the lower liners, with 491 lagging stocks compared to 324 gainers.
Turnover was 1.48 billion changing hands for RM1.09bil.
Asian markets fell on Friday as investors looked towards a US jobs report due out later today.
According to economists, a higher-than-expected increase in job vacancies and drop in unemployment could trigger a further surge in Treasury yields.
Regional investors fled to the sidelines leaving key benchmarks wallowing in the red.
Japan's Nikkei slipped 1.07% to 39,181, China's composite index shed 0.39% to 3,198 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.47% to 19,150.
In Singapore, the Straits Times dove 1.74% to 3,795.
On the FBM KLCI, Tenaga Nasional bounced 12 sen higher to RM14.24, MISC rose seven sen to RM7.22 and YTL Power gained five sen to RM4.25.
Banks also recouped some losses from earlier in the week, with Maybank gaining two sen to RM10.10, CIMB adding four sen to RM8.15, RHB climbing five sen to RM6.40 and Hong Leong Bank rising eight sen to RM20.32.
Of actives, Velocity rose 1.5 sen to 8.5 sen, Nationgate slumped 17 sen to RM2.45 and Swift Energy dropped 0.5 sen to 41.5 sen.
