KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia edged higher on Wednesday after global equities shrugged off the negative sentiment from recent developments in the Middle East.
At the start the day's trading, the benchmark FBM KLCI was up 2.04 points to 1,637.66.
The leading gainers were Hong Leong Bank rising 14 sen to RM21.14, Tenaga Nasional adding 14 sen to RM14.32 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbing 16 sen to RM21.24.
Meanwhile, Pertama Digital remained the target of heavy selling by investors, plunging a further 15.5 sen to 33 sen with the market's top active volume of 48.59 million shares.
Other top traded stocks were Crest, up 4.5 sen to 39.5 sen and Velocity dropping one sen to five sen.
Apex Securities Research said it expects the local bourse to take on a sideways trading trajectory amid the lack of fresh catalysts.
"Sector-wise, we expect profit taking in the energy sector and plantation sector, as the prices of both commodities plunged partly due to lack of further stimulus announced by the Chinese authorities, while tensions in the Middle East dialed down," it said in its outlook.
Meanwhile, the research firm said the market will focus on US inflation data and the release of the Federal Open Market Committee minutes on Thursday for further clues on the central bank's rate decision moving forward.
It added that the ongoing corporate earnings releases in the US will also be in focus.
