KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — Bursa Malaysia was volatile, in early trade, this morning as bargain hunting in selected heavyweights interspersed with profit taking, dealers said.

At 9.30am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,810.8, up 0.71 of-a-point, after opening 3.55 points lower at 1,806.54.

A dealer said the broader market, however, was softer in line with the bearish sentiment in regional markets following the breakdown in negotiations between Greece and its European creditors and absence of leads from Wall Street.

“Key resistance for the index stays at the Feb 4 high of 1,831, matching the 200-day moving average level, while immediate support will be at 1,778,” a dealer said.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index was 7.38 points higher at 12,469.62, the FBMT100 Index increased 6.31 points to 12,150.01, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 11.091 points to 12,963.98, the FBM Ace inched up 0.27 point to 6,581.99 while the FBM 70 eased 17.14 points to 13,428.86.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index erased 9.439 points to 15,988.48, the Industrial Index slipped 2.31 points to 3,278.54 while the Plantation Index gained 28.14 points to 8,140.17.

Gainers led losers 165 to 147, while 167 counters remained unchanged, 1,292 untraded and 20 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 158.6 million shares worth RM97.84 million.

Among actives, IFCA MSC lost six sen to RM1.20 while Wintoni and Systech lost one sen each to 15 sen and 34 sen, respectively.

Xhinghe and Asia Bioenergy were flat at 11.5 sen and 12.5 sen, respectively.

Of heavyweights, Maybank added six sen to RM9.26, Public bank gained two sen to RM18.24, Axiata added five sen to RM7.08, Sime Darby perked nine sen to RM9.59 and TNB lost 10 sen to RM14.04. — Bernama