KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 ― Bursa Malaysia continued to trade higher at mid-afternoon today, lifted by buying interest in selected heavyweights led by RHB.

At 3pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 1.11 points to 1,606.47.

The benchmark index opened 3.38 points higher at 1,608.74.

Losers led gainers 523 to 198, with 286 counters unchanged, 905 untraded and 39 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.06 billion worth RM744.9 million.

Among heavyweights, RHB perked 17 sen to RM5.91, TNB and Public Bank Public Bank rose eight sen each to RM11.66 and RM22.50, respectively, Dialog added six sen to RM3.36 and Petronas Chemicals gained two sen to RM8.82.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Barakah lost 1.5 sen to seven sen, Lambo, Impiana and KNM slipped half- a-sen each to 6.5 sen, four sen and 18.5 sen, respectively.

Bumi Armada was flat at 19.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was down 10.8 points to 11,289.25, the FBMT 100 Index erased 9.17 points to 11,127.63 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 17.149 points to 11,434.19.

The FBM 70 fell 80.011 points to 13,775.31 but the FBM Ace increased 4.01 points to 4,399.15.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 41.33 points to 16,604.2, while the Plantation Index declined 5.18 points to 6,890.32 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.57 of-a-point lower at 163.25. ― Bernama