KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 ― Bursa Malaysia erased earlier losses on improved buying sentiment as investors felt that the market had turned oversold amidst the ongoing Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

At 11.04am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,656.71, up 0.93 point against yesterday's close of 1,655.78, after opening 2.06 points lower at 1,653.72 this morning.

Gainers led losers 279 to 242, while 354 counters were unchanged, 815 untraded and 20 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 614.31 million shares worth RM449.04 million.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research said following yesterday's 4.1 points relief rebound, the FBM KLCI's immediate outlook had marginally improved and the index would likely test the 1,664 level in the near-term.

"We expect the market to stabilise further amid clarity from the FOMC policy statement (to be released by 3am on September 22),” it added in a note.

For the heavyweights, TNB added two sen to RM14.42, Maybank eased one sen to RM7.79, Public Bank was flat at RM19.56 and IHH lost seven sen to RM6.51.

Among actives, Lion Corporation shed half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Lion Diversified was unchanged at six sen, while FGV and MYEG rose 10 sen each to RM2.35 and RM2.36, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index added 12.04 points to 11,691.65, the FBMT100 Index gained 12.72 points to 11,395.51, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 13.93 points to 12,328.71.

The FBM 70 was up 38.26 points to 13,659.33 and the FBM Ace lost 29.66 points to 5,212.64.

On a sectoral basis, the Industrial Index was 3.21 points lower at 3,095.89, the Plantation Index was 29.95 points higher at 7,865.07 and the Finance Index fell 3.79 points to 14,226. ― Bernama