KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed the morning trading session on a positive note, buoyed by sustained buying interest in certain key stocks.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.75 points to 1,539.54 from Wednesday's close of 1,535.79.
Throughout the session, the benchmark index, which began 3.33 points higher at 1,539.12, fluctuated within the range of 1,534.66 and 1,540.81.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 518 to 430, while 407 counters were unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 2.32 billion units worth RM1.42 billion.
Malacca Securities Research believes that buying interest may spillover towards stocks on the local front, given this positive sentiment.
"Tracking the US, we expect buying support to emerge within the technology sector at least for the near term. "Meanwhile, we still favour the oil and gas (O&G) sector with the oil price ranging above US$86," it said in a note.
Besides that, the firm believes traders will revisit the plantation sector as the crude palm oil surged above RM4,300.
It said other sectors that investors may look into include consumer, solar, telco, packaging as well as Kuala Lumpur-Singaore high-speed rail (KL-SG HSR) beneficiaries such as construction and property
