KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia maintained its upward trend during midday trading, mirroring the performance of other regional stock exchanges.
At 12:30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose by 5.02 points or 0.32 per cent to reach 1,564.61, compared to Monday's closing of 1,559.59.
The overall market sentiment also stayed positive, with more stocks recording gains than losses by 532 to 407, while 433 counters maintained their positions unchanged.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that following the recovery of Nasdaq overnight and the KL20 summit, where Malaysia seeks to establish itself as a leading chip producer in Southeast Asia, traders might redirect their attention to the technology sector.
"We expect that it may provide momentum on the Construction, Property, Utilities and Building Material segments going forward," it said in a note.
On the commodity market front, Brent oil stabilised near the US$87 mark, while the price of gold experienced a decline of over 2.7 per cent overnight, attributed to easing tensions in the Middle East.
"The crude palm oil futures (FCPO) managed to rebound from more than 2 weeks of selling streak, currently trading slightly below RM4,000," Malacca Securities said.