KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI stayed positive over the morning session as stocks rebounded from the heavy selling in the previous session.

       There was some relief on Wall Street overnight as stocks rebounded over optimism that corporate earnings will come in stronger than expected, although there remained a weary eye cast on the US Federal Reserve's FOMC meeting in May.

       At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was up 5.44 points to 1,595.42. The positive counters on the broader market outweighed decliners 509 to 307.

       Petronas Chemicals gained 14 sen to RM10.26, IHH rose nine sen to RM6.65 and Axiata jumped six sen to RM3.50.

       Maybank rose three sen to RM8.92, CIMB gained four sen to RM5.20 while Hong Leong Bank lost six sen to RM20.76 and Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.70.

       Meanwhile, plantation counters retraced some gains from the previous session. Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped six sen to RM28.94, Sime Darby Plantation fell 12 sen to RM5.22 and IOI lost five sen to RM4.68.

       On the broader market, top active counters were Yongtai flat at 10.5 sen, MNC up 0.5 sen to 3.5 sen and Technax unchanged at 11 sen.

       In major Asian markets, investors remained cautious due to fears over China's lockdown measures impacting economic growth.

       Japan's Nikkei gained 0.7%, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.5%, China's composite index climbed 0.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.9%.

       However, Australia's AS200 dove 1.9% on fears that the Chinese lockdown would impact commodities prices.