KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Bursa Malaysia rebounded at mid-morning today to turn positive as buying momentum emerged in selective heavyweights.

At 11.01am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.33 points better at 1,728.69 from yesterday’s close of 1,727.36.

It opened a marginal 0.29 of-a-point higher at 1,727.65.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outpaced decliners 438 to 262, while 338 counters were unchanged, 657 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.33 billion shares worth RM798.35 million.

According to Kenanga Research in a note today, the benchmark index had breached the resistance-turned-support level of 1,720 on the back of high trading volume, hovering a hair inch above its key multi-month resistance level of 1,727.

"The underlying index outlook is still positively poised, as it is still trading alongside its uptrend channel,” it added.

The FBM Emas Index increased 28.92 points to 12,201.08, the FBMT 100 Index gained 27.85 points to 11,877.65 and the FBM 70 surged 103.93 points to 14,204.06.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 41.48 points to 12,604.61 and the FBM Ace gained 8.06 points to 5,288.86.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index rose 40.3 points to 15,527.87, the Plantation Index was up 28.65 points to 8,137.11, while the Industrial Index declined 1.41 points to 3,261.26.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals rose six sen each to RM8.88 and RMRM7.49 respectively and TNB advanced two sen to RM13.70.

Meanwhile, Public Bank and Sime Darby eased two sen each to RM19.92 and RM9.12.

Of the actives, Hovid rose three sen to 34.5 sen, Wintoni and Priceworth increased one sen each to four sen and 14 sen, while MMAG and Borneo Oil were down half-a-sen each to 5.5 sen and 17 sen. — Bernama