KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 — Bursa Malaysia extended earlier gains to finish the morning session on a high note, in tandem with the positive performance of  Asian peers.

A dealer said the overnight rebound on Wall Street had reignited the risk-on sentiment and led to a collective sigh of relief across global markets, including the local bourse.

At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) went up 12.65 points or 0.76 per cent to 1,685.25 from yesterday’s close of 1,672.60.

The key index moved between 1,677.33 and 1,688.17 throughout the session, after opening 7.11 points higher at 1,679.71.

Market breadth was positive with 517 gainers thumping 160 losers, while 284 counters were unchanged, 923 untraded and 54 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 964.13 million shares worth RM558.44 million.

Meanwhile, the dealer said the steadier crude oil prices also lent support to the oil and gas-related counters, ranging from Petronas-linked blue chips, mid-cap stocks like Sapura Energy, to small-cap stocks such as Hibiscus Petroleum.

Among heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM9.38, Public Bank bagged 12 sen to RM24.88, and Tenaga advanced four sen to RM13.58.

Petronas Chemicals gained 17 sen to RM9.36 and Petronas Gas advanced 20 sen to RM18.98.

Of actives, Hibiscus perked 5.5 sen to 83 sen, Sapura Energy inched up half-a-sen to 29.5 sen, Prestariang put on four sen to 44.5 sen, MyEG was 4.5 sen better at 97.5 sen while Hubline was flat at four sen.

Allianz led the top gainers list, rising 46 sen to RM12.86, followed by BAT, increasing 42 sen to RM35.98, F&N added 34 sen to RM32.34, Malaysia Airports jumped 25 sen to RM8.43 and Hong Leong Financial was 20 sen firmer at RM18.84.

The FBM Emas Index propped up 112.44 points to 11,492.74, the FBMT 100 Index leapt 111.10 points to 11,410.22, the FBM 70 surged 233.82 points to 13,048.34 and the FBM Ace Index was 63.16 points better at 4,237.65.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 125.01 points to 11,449.04.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index climbed 94.0 points to 17,294.93, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.99 points to 166.51 and the Plantation Index went up 39.94 points to 6,794.60. — Bernama