Bursa Malaysia recovered earlier losses to close higher at midday on improved sentiment with buying of selected heavyweights led by financial services and utilities counters.
At 3.10pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) remained at 1,566.00, unchanged since it opened.
The benchmark index opened 4.42 points higher at 1,571.14 and fluctuated between 1,563.48 and 1,575.11 throughout the session.
The broader market was also positive with gainers outnumbering losers by 540 to 335. A total of 453 counters were unchanged, 1,049 remained untraded and 19 were suspended.
Total trading volume stood at 1.89 billion units worth RM1.29 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the bargain hunting to continue as the recent sell-off may have been excessive.
They forecast the index to hover in the 1,570 to 1,580 range this week.
In addition, the benchmark FBM KLCI also ended higher at the lunch break in line with regional indices which saw positive trends following positive talks between US President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping ahead of his inauguration.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 14 sen to RM10.28, CIMB added one sen to RM7.99, Tenaga Nasional rose 14 sen to RM13.74, while Public Bank fell 15 sen to RM4.29 and IHH Healthcare fell four sen to RM7 .11.
