KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KCI ended the early session higher amid a mixed performance in regional markets as investors looked ahead to earnings reports for global chipmakers.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was up 3.53 points to 1,682.58, en route to a third consecutive day of gains as the market continued to recover from a late-June sell-off.
Maybank rose six sen to RM10.86, MISC rose 15 sen to RM7.90 and PETRONAS Dagangan gained 16 sen to RM19.42.
The broader market however was negative with 595 declining issues outpacing 303 gainers.
Trading volume was 1.57 billion shares for a muted valued of RM759.57mil, suggesting investors may be staying to the sidelines amid an absence of leads due to the US's Independence Day holiday weekend.
Positive sectors included financial services, rising 0.27%, plantations adding 0.33% and telcos rising 0.58%.
The construction index dropped 0.27%, consumer shed 0.33% and property slipped 0.17%.
Of actives, Silver Ridge dropped 1.5 sen to 19.5 sen, Zetrix AI shed 2.5 sen to 76.5 sen and Tanco was flat at 17.5 sen.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.41% to 69, 422, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.44% to 8,052 while Shanghai's Composite index was flat at 4,045.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 0.78% to 23,522.
