KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed higher today, propped up by gains on blue-chips especially Hong Leong-related counters, dealers said.

At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) perked 10.56 points to 1,872.38.

The market barometer moved between 1,861.73 and 1,878.71 throughout the day.

Hong Leong-related counters dominated the top gainers list with Hong Leong Financial Group gaining 54 sen to RM17.58, Hong Leong Capital and Hong Leong Bank adding 46 sen each to RM13.36 and RM14.46 respectively, and Hong Leong Industries rising 31 sen to RM7.50.

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index jumped 77.76 points to 17,455.89, theIndustrial Index improved 20.2 points to 3,257.76 and the Plantation Index expanded 70.48 points to 8,569.95.

The FBM Emas Index was 42.12 points higher at 13,053.82, the FBMT100 Index  chalked up 44.56 points to 12,626.89.

The FBM 70 decreased 52.439 points to 14,229.33 and the FBM Ace erased 18.6 points to 6,986.95.

Losers led gainers 439 to 410 while 311 counters remain unchanged, 477 untraded and 30 others suspended.

Total volume fell to 2.63 billion units worth RM2.4 billion from 3.29 billion units worth RM2.11 billion yesterday. — Bernama