KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Bursa Malaysia was higher in the early session this morning as buying sentiment improved after weaker-than-expected US jobs data diminished concerns about a possible interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

At 9.16am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.77 points better at 1,673.56 against Friday’s close of 1,671.79.

It opened 4.48 points weaker at 1,667.31.

Gainers led losers 189 to 95, while 192 counters were unchanged, 1,194 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 161.08 million shares worth RM62.98 million.

Among heavyweights, TNB gained four sen for RM14.70, Maybank rose five sen to RM7.80, while Public Bank and IHH were both flat at RM19.90 and RM6.59 respectively.

Of actives, Vivocom added 1.5 sen to 23.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum improved half-a-sen to 20 sen and PUC Founder declined half-a-sen to 6.5 sen.

Top gainers were Nestle, up 36 sen to RM80.38, SCGM rose 16 sen to RM2.98 and TRIplc increased 12 sen to RM1.94.

Top losers, on the other hand, were Kuala Lumpur Kepong, down 18 sen to RM23.54, Petronas Dagangan falling 10 sen to RM23.30 and Carlsberg shedding eight sen to RM14.72.

The FBM Emas Index firmed 13.8 points to 11,764.61, the FBMT 100 Index increased 12.27 points to 11,475.03 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 11.54 points to 12,403.01.

The FBM 70 rose 15.21 points to 13,623.03, and the FBM Ace was 55.09 points higher at 5,296.4.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index increased 21.73 points to 14,401.1, the Plantation Index fell 11.28 points to 7,800.14, and the Industrial Index bagged 3.26 points to 3,138.02. —Bernama