Trading volume however was thin with 306.77 million shares valued at RM422.47 million. There were 307 gainers and 211 losers, while 217 counters traded unchanged.

Among the major gainers at midday, Genting added 18 sen to RM7.13, Tenaga up 10 sen to RM8.14, Proton rose 21 sen to RM3.38 while KL Kepong and Hartalega added 20 sen each to RM13.42 and RM5.35.

PPB Group and Kumpulan Jetson added 14 sen each to RM15.50 and RM1.28, Sime Darby up 3 sen to RM8.27 while Astro was up 12 sen to RM3.56.

Among finance stocks, Maybank and Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd added 4 sen each to RM6.52 and RM10.26, Hong Leong Bank gained 23 sen to RM6.36 while Public Bank rose 5 sen to RM10.04.

The top loser was Kheesan which fell 9 sen to 56 sen; Kenmark and Bina Goodyear fell 6.5 sen each to 78.5 sen and 58.5 sen, Berjaya Land and Chin Well Holdings down 6 sen each to RM3.72 and RM1.13 while KAF-Seagroatt fell 5 sen to RM1.11.

Crude palm oil futures for third month delivery fell RM47 to RM2,143 per tonne at midday, while crude oil added 18 cents to US$68.20 per barrel.

Over at the regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.05% to 10,293.77, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.43% to 20,610.15, the Shanghai Composite Index up 1.6% to 2,907.50, the Taiwan TAIEX Index up 0.78% to 7,209.12, the Singapore Straits Times Index up 0.02% to 2,623.14 while the South Korean Kospi lost 0.04% to 1,608.23.