KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 ― Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-afternoon today on continued buying support in heavyweights.

At 3.06pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,733.51, up 16.15 points from yesterday's close of 1,717.36, after opening 8.98 points higher at 1,726.34 this morning.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 581 to 295 with 495 counters unchanged, 343 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.24 billion shares worth RM1.8 billion.            

Among heavyweights, Maybank improved nine sen to RM8.84, TNB increased six sen to RM13.74, Sime Darby rose seven sen to RM9.20 and Petronas Chemicals was three sen higher at RM7.31.

Of the actives, Priceworth International rose two sen to 22 sen, Borneo Oil eased half-a-sen to 18 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum added one sen to 43.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index jumped 116.5 points to 12,260.13, the FBMT 100 Index soared 115.19 points to 11,914.41 and the FBM 70 Index was 153.89 points better at 14,262.01.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 111.07 points to 12,663.74 and the FBM Ace improved 86.21 points to 5,489.64.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index garnered 148.247 points to 15,557.48, the Plantation Index gained 50.76 points to 8,151.6 and the Industrial Index was 20.68 points higher at 3,261.21. ― Bernama