KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI pared gains as it entered the midday break even as global stocks continued to rally on expectations of a peace deal between the US and Iran.
Oil prices dropped below US$90 a barrel, spurring an equities on Wall Street overnight that spilled over into Asian markets on Friday.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was up 1.44 points to 1,680.97 after spending the early session trading within a range of 1,679.72 to 1,685.39.
The index was lifted by a rebound in blue chips, including Nestle, up 96 sen to RM95.46, PETRONAS Dagangan climbing 56 sen to RM18.28 and Tenaga Nasional adding 12 sen to RM14.42.
However, there was an underlying weakness in the broader market with 481 declining issues compared to 435 advancing. Trading volume was 1.71 billion shares valued at RM1.06bil.
Among the leading sectors, financial services rose 0.38%, consumer products gained 0.63% and REITs added 0.4%.
Energy shares slumped 0.59% while plantations dropped 0.83%.
Of the day's most active stocks, Zetrix AI rose 0.5 sen ot 81.5 sen, Top Glove dropped two sen to 81 sen and Mega Fortis slid two sen to RM1.59.
Around the region, share markets were jubilant. South Korea's Kospi led the rally with an 8.5% leap to 8,424. Japan's NIkkei rose 3.51% to 66,472.
In China, the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.56% to 4,049 while the CSI 300 added 1.53% to 4,794. Hong Kong's Hang Seng put on 2.03% to 24,740.
