Bursa Malaysia was higher at midday on Friday on bargain hunting, tracking the stronger Wall Street performance overnight.
The US stocks ended sharply higher on Thursday (Jan 18), as artificial intelligence (AI) optimism drove gains in chipmakers and brightened the earnings outlook for technology stocks, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm on Friday, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.79 points to 1,482.97, from Thursday’s close of 1,479.18.
The barometer index opened one point better at 1,480.18 and moved between 1,477.05 and 1,485.53 throughout the morning session.
On the broader market, gainers beat losers 483 to 394, while 410 counters were unchanged, 978 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 3.49 billion units, worth RM1.40 billion, Bernama reported.
