KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia bounced back after strong selling pressure yesterday on fears that rising inflation could derail global economic growth.

       At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was up 8.45 points to 1,547.26. The overall markets was positive with 241 gainers compared with 117 decliners.

       "Given the persistent inflation worries, we believe the selling pressure may prolong on Wall Street, translating to spillover selling activities on the technology sector.

       "On the broader market, we expect bargain hunting activities to emerge in the recovery-themed and plantation sectors ahead of the reporting season," said Malacca Securities Research in a note.

       The strongest gains were seen in Sime Darby Plantation up 26 sen to RM5.16 and Press Metal climbing 16 sen to RM4.96 and Petronas Chemicals rising eight sne to RM9.95.

       Financial services however seen were deen slipping, led by a nine sen drop in Maybank to RM8.98. Public Bank fell two sne to RM4.61 and CIMB rose one sen to RM5.06.

       Meanwhile, there was some relief for technology counters after the Nasdaq eked out a mild rebound in overnight trading. MPI rose 34 sen to RM29.64 and Pentamaster added 13 sen to RM3.15 after recent losses.

       Top actives were Serba Dinamik, which rose 0.5 sen to nine sen, Yong Tai rising 0.5 sne to 10.5 sen and Dnex climbing 2.5 sen to 95.5 sen.