KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session in positive territory, in line with the uptrend in regional markets which mirrored Wall Street's overnight rally, a dealer said.

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.54 points to 1,467.09 from Wednesday's closing of 1,462.55.

The market bellwether opened 1.24 points better at 1,463.79.

On the broader market, advancers led decliners 374 versus 316, while 406 counters were unchanged, 1,168 untraded and 32 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.52 billion units worth RM634.16 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng said the US stock market rallied on improved consumer confidence and better-than-expected corporate earnings, coupled with positive economic data.

He said the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 527 points and the Nasdaq jumped by 162 points, while the US 10-year yield eased marginally to 3.67%.

“Domestically, the FBM KLCI fell for the third consecutive day to close near the 1,460 level amid persistent foreign selling on Wednesday.

“Nonetheless, we reckon some bargain-hunting will emerge soon as the RM75 billion East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) project has been given the green light, and that should boost interest in the construction sector," he told Bernama.

As such, he anticipates the index to hover within the 1,460-1,475 range on Thursday.

At noon, Bursa heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) declined four sen to RM8.74, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) fell four sen to RM9.13, and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added 24 sen to RM8.32, while Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.41, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was unchanged at RM5.79.

Of the actives, Advance Synergy Bhd inched up half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, Reneuco Bhd bagged 6.5 sen to 32 sen, Citaglobal Bhd was one sen higher at 30 sen, while both Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and Fintec Global Bhd were flat at one sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 33.5 points to 10,528.25, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 63.21 points higher at 10,615.38, the FBM 70 Index strengthened 39.18 points to 12,852.86, the FBM ACE Index increased 43.79 points to 5,509.64, and the FBMT 100 Index garnered 31.59 points to 10,237.12.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index rose 37.28 points to 6,810.63, the Energy Index added 3.05 points to 787.32, and the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 2.85 points to 178.24.

However, the Financial Services Index weakened by 20.67 points to 16,581.51.