KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 ― Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session mixed on cautious sentiment against the backdrop of escalating trade tensions between China and the United States.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.09 points to 1,788.34 at lunch break, from yesterday's close of 1,779.95.

After opening 1.7 points higher at 1,786.95 today, the FBM KLCI moved between 1,777.45 and 1,791.07 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, losers led gainers by 384 to 339, with 369 counters unchanged, 795 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.27 billion shares worth RM1.06 billion.

However, Kenanga Research said the longer-term technical outlook of the local stock market remained  positive with the key simple moving average (SMA) still trending upwards.

"Immediate support can be identified at 1,788, near the 100-day SMA and 1,765 should the index trend lower. Conversely, resistance can be identified at 1,827 and 1,865,” it said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and Tenaga were all untraded at RM9.80, RM24.92 and RM15.82 respectively.

Actives were led by Sapura Energy which rose 4.5 sen to 40 sen, as MYEG gained six sen to RM1.56 and Borneo Oil eased half-a-sen to 5.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was 16.08 points better at 12,439.64, while the FBMT 100 Index gained 15.17 points to 12,267.63 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 5.78 points to 12,525.71.

The FBM 70 shed 4.6 points to 14,650.67 and the FBM Ace Index added 19.81 points to 5,075.08.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index increased 56.06 points to 17,741.8, the Industrial Index fell 10.32 points to 3,196.69 and the Plantation Index was 9.04 points higher at 7,474.21. ― Bernama