KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia continued their upward momentum this morning bolstered by overnight gains on Wall Street bourses, dealers said.

At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,713.67, up 9.89 points after opening 4.53 points firmer at 1,708.31.

HwangDBS Vickers Research in its note said Malaysian equities today could build on their recovery momentum against a more stable external backdrop.

The benchmark FBM KLCI may attempt to pull slightly further away from the psychological mark of 1,700 ahead.

In terms of news flows, the focus today would likely be on talks of possible government measures to reduce the fiscal and debt deficits.

In particular, investors will be keen to check out the probable implications on the stock market as the government is looking to roll back subsidies and reprioritise mega projects, the research house said.

On Bursa Malaysia, the Finance Index added 105.439 points to 16,092.59, the Plantation Index rose 2.45 points to 8,112.97 and the Industrial Index was firmer by 5.45 points at 2,866.86.

The FBM Emas Index appreciated 59.83 points to 11,866.86, the FBM100 Index edged up 60.149 points to 11,627.22 and the FBM 70 Index increased 40.699 points to 13,390.56.

Gainers thumped losers 202 to 57, while 118 counters were unchanged, 1,206 untraded and 29 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 144.969 million shares worth RM64.206 million.

Among actives, The Media Shoppe was flat at 9.5 sen, Sona Petroleum-Warr was unchanged at 25 sen and Land & General Bhd went up 1.8 sen to 5.5 sen.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank added 12 sen to RM10.06, Axiata inched up one sen to RM6.75 and Sime Darby was flat at RM9.39. — Bernama