KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) extended its gains at mid-day on continued buying momentum in key heavyweights, dealers said.

The uptrend was in tandem with Asian markets following a rebound in US equity markets coupled with oil prices which hit a six-month high as concerns over global supply outage mounted.

The benchmark index ended the lunch break 10.91 points higher at 1,632.12, after moving between 1,619.48 and 1,632.12 during the morning session.

The barometer index opened 1.73 points easier at 1,619.48 from Yesterday’s close of 1,621.21.

Gainers outpaced losers 349 to 315 while 348 counters were unchanged, 699 untraded and 13 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 924.95 million shares worth RM728.02 million.

A dealer said risk appetite had returned but it might only be for the short-term.

Earlier, Kenanga Research said the local bourse would likely trend further south this week towards the 1,600 level, as investor sentiment remained lacklustre due to the lack of catalyst, the weakening ringgit and concerns over the MSCI Index rebalancing.

“Overhead resistance is seen at 1,640 while immediate support is seen at 1,620 and 1,600 next,” it said in a research note today.

On the local bourse, among heavyweights, Maybank rose nine sen to RM8.54, TNB added two sen to RM14.02, Public Bank soared 12 sen to RM19.12 while IHH Healthcare was two sen better at RM6.59.

Among gainers, Nestle increased 70 sen to RM74.50, Dutch Lady advanced 68 sen to RM55.88, Petronas Gas appreciated 52 sen to RM21.44 and Petronas Dagangan was 30 sen higher at RM23.02.

For actives, AirAsia X rose one sen to 40.5 sen, Compugates was flat at five sen and AirAsia was nine sen better at RM2.31.

The FBM Emas Index rose 56.84 points to 11,406.96, the FBMT100 Index increased 57.40 points to 11,097.57 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 54.05 points to 11,903.06.

The FBM70 added 6.51 points to 12,837.54 and the FBM Ace was 50.13 points higher at 5,749.57.

The Finance Index appreciated 85.43 points for 14,309.87, the Plantation Index gained 22.17 points to 7,459.78 and the Industrial Index increased 33.98 points to 3,048.32. — Bernama