KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's benchmark index lagged enthusiasm, weighed down by persistent fears over geopolitical risk, inflation risks and a weak sentiment for equities.
At noon, the FBM KLCI was up 1.84 points to 1,632.71, with heavyweight banks helping to shore up the market.
AMMB rose 11 sen to RM6.50, Hong Leong Bank jumped 26 sen to RM22.90 and Public Bank was up three sen to RM7.46.
On the broader market, the sentiment remained weak with 560 decliners compared to 477 gainers. There were 2.93 billion shares traded for a value of RM1.39bil.
The technology sector was the biggest gainer, jumping 1.69%, while financial services rose 0.4%
Telcos dove 2.12%, utilities dropped 0.51%, property shed 0.43% and energy slid 0.37%.
Meanwhile, Zetrix AI continued its fall after the trading halt was lifted at 10am. The share hit limit down after falling 3.5 sen to eight sen, after news broke last Friday it owed over RM200mil in collections.
VS Industry rose four sen to 33 sen and Cuscapi slid 0.5 sne ot 4.5 sen.
In regional markets, Japan's Nikkei was up 2.08% to 69,730 while South Korea's Kospi gained 0.46% to 7,003.
China's Shanghai Composite index added 0.31% to 3,842. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was nearly flat at 23,952.
