KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse ended on a positive note on Wednesday on bargain hunting as investors picked up bargains after the recent sell-off.

       At the closing bell, the FBM KLCI went up 15.46 points, or 1%, to 1,562.33. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,568.00.

       Broad market sentiment was positive, with 799 losers outpacing 272 gainers and 344 counters which traded unchanged. About 3.5 billion shares, valued at RM3.51bil, changed hands.

       Dealers said the rise in Bursa Malaysia's benchmark index today was mainly lifted by banking and selected commodity counters.

       Significant advancers on the broader market included Malaysian Pacific Industries (MPI), Heineken Malaysia and ViTrox.

       MPI surged RM2.78 to RM29.88, Heineken jumped 94 sen to RM21.70 and ViTrox gained 56 sen to RM6.46.

       Key losers were Nestle which lost RM1.30 to RM133.90, followed by KESM, which fell 50 sen to RM8.60 and PPB shed 22 sen to RM17.18.

       Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank rose 30 sen to RM19.90, CIMB added 14 sen to RM4.89, RHB Bank advanced 13 sen to RM5.70, Public Bank gained 10 sen to RM4.40 and Maybank climbed one sen to RM8.81.

       Meanwhile, oil prices firmed on Wednesday over fears of a potential supply shock as the US banned Russian oil imports.

       U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday imposed an immediate ban on Russian oil and other energy imports.

       Brent crude oil added US$1.18, or 0.92%, to US$129.16 a barrel while US crude oil futures climbed 75 cents, or 0.61%, to US$124.45 per barrel.

       On the external front, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 24,717.53 while South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.09% to 2,622.40.

       Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed down 0.67% to 20,627.71.

       China’s CSI300 index closed down 0.92% at 4,226.35 while Shanghai Composite index was down 1.13% at 3,256.39.