KUALA LUMPUR: A rebound was seen in Asian markets during the late morning session following a broad sell-off earlier in the day.
Political uncertainty in Washington have weighed down Asian markets even as growing economic headwinds fray investor nerves ahead of the holiday season.
On the local stock exchange, equities made a U-turn into positive territory, possibly on window dressing activities leading to the year-end.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was 5.46 points higher at 1,675.74. Turnover was a slight 738.3 million shares valued at RM411.31mil.
Leading gainers included Tenaga Nasional rising 12 sen to RM13,60, IHH gaining 13 sen to RM5.48, MISC climbing 18 sen to RM6.33 and Axaita adding 12 sen to RM3.98.
Stocks in the red were Maxis falling six sen to RM5.35, Sime Darby Plantation
dropping 10 sen to RM4.69 and KL Keping dipping 12 sen to RM24.08.
On the broader exchange, BAT rose 66 sen to RM35.96, F&N gained 42 sen to RM31.76 and Petron Malaysia climbed 17 sen to RM6.25.
Laggards included Dutch Lady falling 70 sen to RM59.90, Time dotCom slipping 13 sen to RM7.91 and Scientex losing 11 sen to RM9.25.
Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Monday on signs that the recent price plunge may start crimping supply from the US, currently the world's biggest oil producer, though concerns about global economy continues to weigh, Reuters reported.
US crude rose 43 cents to US$46.02 a barrel while Brent crude gained 51 cents to US$54.33 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit was 0.1% lower against the US dollar at 4.1840. It also fell 0.1% against the pound sterling at 5.3025 and gained 0.2% against the Singapore dollar at 3.0476.
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