KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI maintained a slight lead at midday as investors grew optimistic over a global recovery to rebound after two days of losses.

       At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was up 3.83 points to 1,545.73.

       Blue-chips on the rise included Public Bank up two sen to RM4.16, IHH gaining seven sen to RM6.89, CIMB adding five sen to RM5.47 and Axiata adding three sen to RM3.91.

       The broader market was also positive with 532 gainers compared to 309 decliners.

       SAM Engineering rose 54 sen to RM24.10, Aeon Credit climbed 52 sen to RM14.44 and MPI jumped 22 sen to RM49.90.

       Notable laggards were Genetec down RM1.02 to RM39.88, Vitrox slipping 28 sen to RM19.66 and Rapid falling 22 sen to RM9.44

       Among actives KGroup gained 0.5 sen to two sen, SMTrack dropped 0.5 sen to 25 sen and XOX was up 0.5 sen to 3.5 sen.

       Meanwhile, Asian stocks were lower after a mixed Wall Street session with higher US Treasury yields weighing on global tech firms.

       Japan's Nikkei was flat, South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.5% and China's benchmark idex slid 0.8%.

       Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.8% while Australia's ASX200 dropped 0.3%.