KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher on mild buying in selected heavyweights, with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) up 0.50 of-a-point to 1,762.70 at 12.30pm.

The benchmark index hovered between 1,761.17 and 1,763.95 throughout the session.

It opened 0.55 of-a-point easier at 1,761.53 from Tuesday’s close of 1,762.08.

A dealer said some buying interest helped Bursa Malaysia stage a mild rebound, despite most investors staying cautious and on the sidelines in awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s meeting later today, which may indicate detailed plans on interest rate hikes.

The Finance Index rose 11.22 points to 16,778.33, the Industrial Index gained 4.42 points to 3,256.89 and the Plantation Index slid 11.09 points to 7,898.31.

The FBM Emas Index gained 1.87 points to 12,590.41 and the FBMT100 Index improved 1.98 points to 12,223.35.But,  the FBM 70 eased 6.23 points to 15,041.67 and the FBM Ace advanced 34.61 points to 6,557.16.

Losers outnumbered gainers 341 to 315, with 374 counters unchanged, 753 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Turnover totalled 745.27 million shares worth RM646.10 million.

Among actives, Asia Bioenergy and IFCA  each lost half-a-sen to 15.5 sen and 40 sen respectively, while Managepay gained two sen to 25.5 sen and Hiap Teck rose one sen to 40.5 sen.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank, TNB and Sime Darby were each flat at RM9.65, RM14.10 and RM9.51,  while Public Bank rose two sen to RM20.32 and CIMB bagged one sen for RM6.52.

Petronas Chemicals declined four sen to RM7.10. — Bernama