KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — Bursa Malaysia turned mixed at midday as continuous gains recorded by glove makers helped to mitigate the downtrend.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) went up 1.63 points to 1,383.94 compared to Friday’s close of 1,382.31.

The local bourse opened 2.87 points lower at 1,379.44, and moved between 1,377.56 and 1,388.41 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 456 to 353, while 355 counters were unchanged, 701 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 3.72 billion units worth RM1.95 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Top Glove jumped 69 sen to RM8.00, while Hartalega was 21 sen higher at RM7.58 as the Covid-19 pandemic boosted demand for rubber gloves in the global medical industry.

MISC added 11 sen to RM8.01 and Petronas Gas went up 22 sen to RM15.08.

Meanwhile, Tenaga depreciated six sen to RM12.28, Petronas Dagangan was 64 sen lower at RM19.86 and IOI dropped five sen to RM3.83

As for the actives, Careplus increased 22.5 sen to 81.5 sen, LKL rose 10 sen to 48 sen and HLT Global went up six sen to 36 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 15.03 points to 9,750.94, the FBMT 100 Index gained 12.48 points to 9,598.99, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 44.56 points to 10,891.01, the FBM ACE climbed 128.86 points to 5,150.27 and the FBM 70 strengthened 20.47 points to 11,920.14.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went down 18.66 points to 12,266.61, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.11 of-a-point to 120.75, while the Plantation Index dropped 28.91 points to 6,210.76. — Bernama