KUALA LUMPUR: After a brief dip in the red, the FBM KLCI was seen bouncing higher in early-morning trade as investors sought out equities sold down in the previous session.

       At 9.35am, the country's key index was up 2.51 points to 1,572.54

       The market has been seen trading in a sideways direction of late with a downside bias. Local equities were sold down for a third straight session yesterday amid a downturn in market sentiment.

       However, analysts expect investors to support prices amid bargain-hunting activities in today's session, where most of the FBM KLCI's constituent counters were seen rising.

       Market breadth on Bursa Malaysia was also positive with 318 gainers versus 231 decliners.

       "Tracking the positive rebound on Wall Street, coupled with the stability in the political landscape following the MoU inked between the federal coalition and Pakatan Harapan yesterday, we believe the recent bashed down broader market may be cushioned out by potential bargain-hunting activities, at least for this week," said Malacca Securities Research.

       On the blue-chip index, Petronas Chemicals was down seven sen to RM8.06 while IHH rose five sen to RM6.59.

       Axiata grew four sen to RM4.13, Press Metal gained four sen to RM5.85 and MISC added seven sen to to RM7.03.

       Top Glove, which led declines in the previous session, was up one sen to RM3.29.

       Among top actives, Avillion was up one sen to 16.5 sen, Kanger slipped 0.5 sen to 5.5 sen and Saudee rose 0.5 sen to nine sen.