KUALA LUMPUR: The rally on Bursa Malaysia picked up over the early session as optimism over an anticipated cut in the US lending rate come September bolstered buying interest in global equities.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI had put on 8.57 points to 1,586.72, on pace with the gains seen across Asian markets on Monday.
There were gains registered in most local sectors, especially in finance although there were with dips recorded in energy and healthcare.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 463-to-399 to indicate a positive market breadth amid a turnover of 1.15 billion shares changing hands for RM815.07mil.
Consumer giant Nestle climbed RM1.76 to RM95 amid the uptick in consumer confidence while utility major Tenaga Nasional rose 32 sen to RM13.38.
Major banks were at the forefront of the rally with Maybank gaining five sen to RM10.04, RHB jumping eight sen to RM6.58, Public Bank adding two sen to RM4.29 and Hong Leong Bank rising six sen to RM20.12.
Leading trading volume, Tanco rose three sen to 82.5 sen, JAKS gained one sen to 11 sen and Velesto
rose one sen to 21.5 sen.
In key Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.33% to 43,590 following news the country's premier was stepping down to make way for new leadership.
China's composite index rose 0.17% to 3,818 while the blue-chip CSI 300 was flat at 4,459. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.35% to 25,508.
