KUALA LUMPUR: The Bursa Malaysia benchmark concluded the morning session with a five-point lead, on track to end the week with six consecutive days of recovery.
As the bell sounded for the midday break, the FBM KLCI picks up on US-inspired rally
FBM KLCI was up 4.87 points to 1,617.81, off the intramorning high of 1,624.71, but poised for its highest closing since Aug 2.
Blue chips on the Malaysian market have been in recovery mode all week, effectively erasing the losses registered during the market rout sparked by the unwinding of Japan's yen carry trade and US recession fears.
Wall Street's bullish overnight performance, as US inflation data showed the economy was holding up, gave Bursa Malaysia a boost as it opened for Friday trading.
The domestic newsflow has also been positive as Bank Negara announced economic growth of 5.9% in the second quarter of the year, slightly pipping forecasts, to suggest a growing momentum in the country's economy.
While the lower liners on the Malaysian bourse have lagged behind the blue chips in terms of recovery, Friday's performance saw the market moving broadly higher with 655 stocks posting price gains compared to 284 in the red.
All the market sectors were positive except for telecommunications and media, which slipped a fraction into the red.
The trading turnover for the day was 1.96 billion shares valued at RM1.35bil.
The strong closing of all three major US stock indices, ranging from 1.39% to 2.34%, left a positive impression on global markets.
Meanwhile, Asia's key markets took up a rally on the back of resurgent confidence that the US economy was not at risk of a hard landing.
Japan's Nikkei jumped 2.68% to 37,710, followed by Hong Kong's Hang Seng gaining 1.69% to 17,397.
Singapore's Straits Times climbed 1.09% to 3,351. China's composite index was a marginal 0.09% higher at 2,880.
