KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 ― Bursa Malaysia finished the morning session higher, supported by bargain-hunting activities and ahead of second-quarter corporate earnings to be released soon, said a dealer.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 2.74 points to 1,757.66, after moving between 1,753.74 and 1,760.82 throughout the morning session. 

The key index opened 1.18 points lower at 1,753.74.           

 On the broader market, gainers led losers 433 to 306 with 358 counters unchanged, 706 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.30 billion shares worth RM1.03 billion.

A dealer said external sentiment, particularly from the United States had softened, as investors anticipate that progress towards another interest rate hike would be slow.

"Meanwhile, upbeat Chinese economic data, has given the market a fresh catalyst and boosted up market sentiment. The local bourse is expected to continue trading in positive territory today,” he added. 

Of the heavyweights, CIMB bagged eight sen to RM6.41, Maybank improved three sen to RM9.63, PBBank rose two sen to RM20.38, while Tenaga was flat at RM14.14.

For the top gainers, DLady was 60 sen better at RM59, BAT added 50 sen for RM43.50, AJI improved 26 sen to RM25.72 and F&N increased 18 sen to RM25.46. 

The FBM Emas Index climbed 20.72 points to 12,538.27, the FBM 70 advanced 20.74 points to 14,947.45, the FBMT100 Index was 20.04 points higher to 12,178.15, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 8.01 points to 12,718.04.

But, the FBM Ace was 5.21 points weaker at 6,817.54.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index improved 45.46 points to 16,704.43, the Plantation Index rose 7.75 points to 7,872.08, while the Industrial Index was 0.26 of-a-point lower at 3,266.48. ― Bernama