KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI made little headway in morning trade despite a sharp rally on Wall Street as traders bet on a speedy resolution to the Middle East conflict.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was up 3.85 points to 1,687.27 while the broader market ticked higher on the back of 628 advancing issues as compared to 455 declining.
Volume was 2.3 billion shares changing hands for RM1.63bil.
Technology shares on Bursa Malaysia surged 2.9% after US tech counters spiked overnight in anticipation of a peace deal between the US and Iran, and improved earnings expectations.
Semiconductor-related stocks rallied including Frontken up 11 sen to RM4.30, Pentamaster gaining 22 sen to RM3.78 and Inari Amertron
jumping 12 sen to RM1.65.
Financial services also rose, followed by utilities and construction.
Among the most active, Zetrix AI put on three sen to 82 sen, 5E Resources dropped one sen to 26.5 sen and AirAsia X gained three sen to RM1.27.
Meanwhile, regional markets rose amid the returning risk appetite for equities. South Korea's Kospi surpassed the 6,200 mark in intraday trading and was 1.58% higher at 6,187 at the time of writing.
Japan's Nikkei gained 2% to 59,316.
In China, the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.53% to 4,048 while the CSI 300 added 0.9% to 4,727. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.38% to 26,306.
Singapore's Straits Times was little changed at 5,020.
