KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia's main index recovered almost all of its earlier losses at midday, boosted mainly by Public Bank and Axiata.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.14 of-a-point to 1,597.35 from Thursday's close of 1,597.49.

The index opened 1.13 points lower at 1,596.36 and moved between 1,586.39 and 1,597.73 throughout the morning session.

Losers outnumbered gainers 486 to 414 while 428 counters were unchanged, 1,132 untraded and 56 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.85 billion units valued at RM1.25 billion.

An analyst noted that bargain-hunting emerged as investors sought opportunities in a beaten-down market, helping certain sectors to recover.

Nevertheless, as market-driven catalysts remained muted, interest is likely to be selective, he said, adding that regional markets provided negative leads in tandem with the overnight Wall Street, which will remain closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday.

With that, the market focus shifted to Japan's inflation, which accelerated to 2.6 per cent in November.

In South Korea, data showed industrial production made a turnaround with a growth of 2.3 per cent in October from the 1.3 per cent fall in September. Still, the country's stock market fell more than 1.0 per cent.

Back home, heavyweights Public Bank bagged four sen to RM4.45, Axiata and SD Guthrie were eight sen better at RM2.42 and RM4.83 respectively, Hong Leong Bank rose 22 sen to RM20.78, and Nestle garnered RM1.50 to RM97.50.

Tenaga Nasional remained the main laggard, losing 48 sen to RM13.50.

Among the active stocks, Zen Tech and Sapura Energy were flat at 1.0 sen and 4.0 sen respectively.

Supreme Consolidated, which has transferred from the LEAP to the ACE Market today, climbed 8.5 sen to 33.5 sen, while Capital A shed five sen to RM1.04.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 8.74 points to 12,153.97, the FBMT 100 Index improved by 7.97 points to 11,849.26 and the FBM 70 Index climbed 45.11 points to 17,908.31.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 15.59 points to 12,071.98 and the FBM ACE Index shaved 15.06 points to 5,134.08.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 99.13 points to 19,206.46, the Energy Index increased 2.52 points to 818.40, the Plantation Index surged 75.91 points to 7,565.11, and the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.16 of-a-point to 170.76.