KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session mixed as bargain hunters continued to be head-to-head with profit takers.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) had more declining stocks, but, was buoyed by the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah Shariah Index.

At lunch break, the FBM KLCI rose 0.41 of-a-point to 1,683.47 from last Friday’s close of 1,683.06.

After opening 0.51 of-a-point lower at 1,682.55, the benchmark index moved between 1,680.59 and 1,686.83 throughout the morning session.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Hijrah Shariah Index comprises the largest 30 companies by full market capitalisation of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS Index that are in compliance with Yasaar and the Securities Commission.

On Bursa Malaysia’s broader market, losers outpaced gainers 516 to 172, with 309 counters unchanged, 903 untraded and 91 others suspended.

Volume stood at 1.01 billion units valued at RM606.84 million.

A dealer said some traders were taking the advantage of last week’s losses to garner relatively cheaper shares.

Kenanga Research said in a note that technically, the outlook of the index appeared outright bearish as it remained below the 1,700 psychological support.

"Key Indicators, meanwhile, also remain negative, showing no sign of short-term recovery.

"Immediate support levels to watch are 1,658 (support level 1) and 1,614 (support level 2), where some bargain hunting is expected,” it added.

The research firm said should market sentiment improve, key levels of resistance to look for are at 1,700 (resistance level 1) and 1,735 (resistance level 2).

Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank fell nine sen to RM9.35, Public Bank eased two sen to RM24.60, while Tenaga gained six sen to RM14.10, with Petronas Chemicals and CIMB rising one sen each to RM9.30 and RM5.61.

For actives, Seacera added two sen to 17.5 sen, Tatt Giap gained 2.5 sen to 19 sen and Vortex was half-a-sen better at 9.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index decreased 23.95 points to 11,567.19, the FBMT 100 Index eased 17.76 points to 11,429.46 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 8.23 points to 11,537.14.

The FBM Ace Index went down 71.51 points to 4,703.54 and the FBM 70 fell 100.79 points to 13,189.95.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 27.1 points softer at 7,297.24, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.71 of-a-point lower at 167.63, and the Financial Services Index decreased 60.08 points to 17,084.79. — Bernama