Sentiment for healthcare counters have turned higher in recent days amid fears of a resurgence of the coronavirus in various developed economies.
"We continue to see the healthcare sector thriving in the current environment as demand for the products and services are expected to remain upbeat," said Malacca Securities Research.
However, the research house cautioned that the lower liners and broader market could experience a consolidation phase as investor turn more defensive ahead of the Sabah state election over the weekend.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI put on 8.1 points to 1,508.9, mainly on the back of strong advances in Hartalega
, which rose RM1 to RM16.90, and Top Glove rising 12 sen to RM8.67.Meanwhile, financial counters were also seen bouncing higher after a sharp retreat yesterday. Maybank gained two sen to RM7.11 and Public Bank added two sen to RM15.54. Hong Leong Bank however lost four sen to RM14.86 while CIMB and RHB were unchanged.
Most active stocks on the market today were Advance Synergy
up two sen to 19 sen, MTouche down 0.5 sen to six sen and Kanger falling one sen to 22.5 sen.Asian markets were mostly higher on Friday, tracking a positive performance on Wall Street overnight as voting over a US stimulus package could take place next week.
Japan's Nikkei was up 0.5% while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.7% and Australia's ASX200 gained 1.2%. China's key index however was down 0.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng also slide 0.2%.