At midday, Malaysian stock exchange's benchmark index advanced 4.52 points to 1,632.66 points, extending the upward momentum from last week which saw the index gaining nearly 37 points (36.73 points) after four trading days.

Throughout the half-day session, the key index moved within a range of 8.62 points, from 1,624.92 points to 1,633.54 points.  

This morning, the benchmark KLCI opened two points lower to 1,626.14 points, from last Friday's close of 1,628.14 points. As at 9:05am, the key index moved up slightly to reach 1,626.49 points, giving up just 1.65 points. Towards late morning, the index started to rise beyond the 1630-point support level, reaching 1630.57 points as at 11:03am, advancing 2.43 points. The benchmark index continued to rise towards midday, finishing at 1,632.66 points at the conclusion of the half-day session.

Sector-wise, the Construction Index advanced 1.86%, followed by the Property Index which added 1.37%, and the Utilities Index which climbed 1.01% as at 12:30pm.

The Technology Index and the Plantation Index were the only two sectoral indices which declined at midday, shedding 0.54% and 0.04%, respectively. The FBM suite of palm oil related indices, FBMPALMOIL-NC, FBMAPMYR, and FBMAPUSD also retreated marginally in line with the decline of the plantation sector, giving up 0.18%, 0.09%, and 0.07%, respectively.

Corresponding to the robust sector performance at midday, construction firm Gamuda Bhd surged ten sen, or 2.13%, to RM4.79, recording a trading turnover of 14,791,800 shares/units.

Foodstuff supplier Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd was the top midday advancer which rallied RM2.02 to RM99.04, followed by PPB Group Bhd which added 20 sen to RM12.50, and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd which increased 18 sen to RM18.30.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd was the top midday decliner which shed 32 sen to RM25.68, followed by United Plantations Bhd which slid 18 sen to RM31.16.

ACE market's consumer listing Vanzo Holdings Bhd was the most active counter at midday, recording a trading turnover of 40,154,700 shares/units as the stock price traded at RM0.20 unchanged from its previous close. Main market's technology listing JCY International Bhd was ranked the second most traded stock at midday, adding one sen to reach RM0.58 on a volume of 33,629,800 shares/units. Glovemaker Supermax Corporation Bhd advanced four sen, or 3.13%, at midday to reach RM1.32, registering a turnover of 18,561,400 shares/units.

Gainers led decliners at midday by 471 to 447, while 484 counters were unchanged, and 944 untraded.

The half-day exchange-wide volume reached over 1.54 billion (1,543,311,000) shares/units valued at nearly RM987.43 million (RM987,427,967).