At 12.30pm, the key index was up 3.92 points to 1,604.11.
Global markets were weighed down by a negative performance on Wall Street overnight amid a sell-off in tech counters.
On Bursa Malaysia, fears of rising new Covid-19 infections threatened raised fears over another round of tightening restrictions.
While investors picked up on bargains headed into midday, the market remained trapped within a sideways trajectory, hovering near the 1,600 psychological level.
Axiata moved 12 sen higher to RM3.91, leading the market higher. Maybank also gained five sen to RM8.33 and MISC was up 13 sen to RM6.81.
Glove counters were in the red. Top Glove lost six sen to RM5.40 and Hartalega
slid nine sen to RM9.95.On the broader market, top actives were UCrest up nine sen to 52.5 sen, Key Asic rising 1.5 sen to 19 sen and Censof gaining 8.5 sen to 46.5 sen.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mostly higher although Japan's stock market slumped 2.2%.
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.45% and China's Composite Index gained 0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat while Australia's ASX200 dropped 0.7%.