KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI found its footing after a wobbly start, ending the morning session in positive territory as the market wound down in preparation for the midweek break.
At the lunch break, the key index was up 4.36 points to 1,559.61 amid an evenly spread market with 4.55 gainers compared to 458 decliners and 473 counters unchanged.
The share turnover was 2.56 billion changing hands for a value of RM1.17bil.
Among blue chips, Tenaga Nasional gained 18 sen to RM11.70 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 18 sen to RM23 while
Press Metal weighed on a bout of profit-taking, losing seven sen to RM5.22.
Consumer stocks were seen rising with Nestle adding RM1.80 to RM122.90, Dutch Lady jumping RM1.10 to RM34.46 and F&N climbing 50 sen to RM31.26.
Of actives, ACE Market-debutant SBH was up 4.5 sen to 26.5 sen, while KNM lost 0.5 sen to eight sen and PUC was unchanged at 5.5 sen.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed with China’s markets reopening after an extended holiday.
The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2% to 3,063 and CSI300 fell 0.5% to 3,551. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.1% to 16,709.
Japan’s Nikkei, meanwhile, gained 0.8% to 39,294 and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,720.