KUALA LUMPUR: Investors took some profit out of the market following the rapid advance earlier in the day although commodities counters continued to give the FBM KLCI a healthy lead.

       At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was up 7.51 points to 1,599.23, off the intra-morning high of 1,613.49.

       Petronas Chemicals, which is seeing stellar gains, retraced slightly to enter the lunch break 31 sen to higher at RM9.60.

       Press Metal also stepped back from previous highs, losing three sen to RM6.72.

       In the plantations sector, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 58 sen to RM26.06 while Sime Darby Plantation added two sen to RM4.80 and IOI fell one sne ot RM4.59.

       Bank counters were mostly higher with Public Bank rising four sen to RM4.41, CIMB adding three sen to RM5.70 and Hong Leong Bank jumping 16 sen to RM20.02.

       Maybank fell two sen to RM8.86.

       Among top actives, Hibiscus Petroleum, seen as a proxy for oil prices, lost three sen to RM1.0 despite the continued advance in Brent crude futures.

       The international benchmark for crude was up 5.15% to US$103.08 a barrel at the time of writing.

       Meanwhile, most major Asian markets meanwhile tracked US stock futures lower as anxieties mounted over the outcome of diplomatic efforts between Russia and Ukraine.

       Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.3%, South Korea' Kospi rose 0.1% and China's composite index dropped 0.1%.

       In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 1.4% while Australia's ASX200 rose 0.55%.