KUALA LUMPUR: Local equities were seen bouncing higher following the recent sell-off as energy and commodities counters continued to advance on the back of rising prices while bank counters eked higher on optimism over the ongoing corporate earnings season.

       "We believe the market will trade in heightened volatility and may persist at least for the near term following another selloff on Wall Street vovernight, due to fears over Russia’s decision to move troops into eastern Ukraine.

       "Meanwhile, investors may keep an eye on Malaysia’s inflation rate which will be released tomorrow," said Malacca Securities Research in a report.

       At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was up 4.41 points to 1,581.37 with investors pouring money into commodity plays as the tensions in Ukraine threatened to disrupt supply.

       Petronas Gas, which released its earnings result yesterday, climbed 14 sen to RM17.24 while Petronas Chemicals remained unchanged.

       Plantations stock Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 68 sne to RM25.68, IOI rose three sen to RM4.43 and Sime Darby Plantation gained two sen to RM4.67.

       Press Metal however retreated two sen to R6.77 as investors took a breath from the recent rally.

       Bank stocks were also seen rebounding ahead of their earnings results later this week, led by Maybank gaining two sne to RM8.74, Public Bank up one sne to RM4.35, CIMB rising one sne to RM5.51 and Hong Leong Bank climbing four sne to RM19.94.

       Among actives, MSM dove 20 sen to 92 sen after it fell into the red in the fourth quarter, while SMTrack rose 0.5 sen to 26 sen and DNeX gained six sen to RM1.18.