KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 ― Shares on Bursa Malaysia extended gains to midday, backed by persistent buying interest in selected heavyweights.

A dealer said the local bourse also tracked the positive momentum of its regional peers after the US Federal Reserve voted to maintain the interest rate at between 1.0-1.25 per cent on Wednesday.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.59 points firmer at 1,770.59, after moving between 1,765.84 and 1,772.03.

The index opened 0.03 of-a-point lower at 1,765.97 from yesterday's close of 1,766.0.

Market breadth, was however, negative, with losers outpacing gainers 350 to 335 with 373 counters unchanged, 793 untraded and 85 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 711.20 million shares worth RM749.55 million.  

Regionally, Singapore's Straits Times garnered 8.96 points or 0.27 per cent to 3,345.68, Japan's Nikkei jumped 22.04 points or 0.11 per cent to 20,072.20 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 134.34 points or 0.5 per cent higher at 27,075.36.

Among heavyweights, CIMB climbed 17 sen to RM6.57, Tenaga advanced 12 sen to RM14.34, Digi was three sen better at RM4.78, while Maybank and Maxis improved two sen each to RM9.65 and RM5.59, respectively.

Of the actives, Vivocom and its warrant each gained one sen to 14.5 sen and six sen, MPay bagged 1.5 sen to 28 sen, Priceworth strengthened half-a-sen to 24.5 sen, while Hubline, Frontken and Kronologi were flat at six sen, 38 sen and 69.5 sen respectively.

Aeon Credit topped the list of the gainers in advancing 44 sen to RM13.94, while top loser, Atlan, fell 32 sen to RM4.20.

The FBM Emas Index increased 38.71 points to 12,606.31, the FBMT 100 Index rose 39.20 points to 12,250.04 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 28.71 points to 12,760.97.

The FBM 70 surged 76.14 points to 14,969.09 and the FBM Ace was 58.0 points stronger at 6,649.75.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index bagged 80.05 points to 16,832.70 and the Industrial Index improved 5.62 points to 3,282.73.

However, the Plantation Index eased 18.02 points to 7,835.47. ― Bernama