KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI was up at midday, in line with a jump in Asian market valuations following the end of hostilities between the US and Iran, as well as the Bank of Japan's widely anticipated decision to hike its interest rate.
At 12.30pm, Malaysia's main stock index was up 11.92 points to 1,703, 21, returning above the 1,700-point psychological level for the first time in three weeks.
Financial heavyweights extended a steep rally as geopolitical risks subsided following the signing of a US-Iran peace deal. Maybank rose 24 sen to RM11.16, CIMB gained nine sen to RM7.78, and Public Bank added four sen to RM4.96.
Bursa Malaysia's blue chips proved the main beneficiary of foreign inflows as the broader market remained slightly negative in the early session. Declining issues outpaced advancing 502 to 476 after 2.27 billion shares traded at a value of RM1.54bil.
Leading sectors were telcos, rising 1.1%, financial services, up 1.06%, and construction gaining 0.72%. On the declining end, healthcare shed 0.45%, REITs slipped 0.31% and utilities dropped 0.28%.
Trading in Asian markets was mostly positive given the positive sentiment over the resumption of oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei index, which had spent much of the morning session in the red, rose 0.54% to a fresh record of 69,692 after the central bank hiked the lending rate by a quarter percentage point to its highest level in 31 years.
South Korea's Kospi climbed 2% to 8,720.
China's Shanghai Composite index was a fraction higher at 4,098 while the CSI 300 gained 0.l3% to 4,898.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng, however, slipped 1.25% to 25,433 after the previous day's strong gains.
