KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 ― Bursa Malaysia extended its rally at mid-afternoon, increasing 25.2 points to 1,590.15 at 3pm.

The index opened 10.30 points lower at 1,563.01, compared with 1,573.48 at yesterday's close.

Market breadth was positive with gainers surpassing losers 609 to 326, while 387 counters were unchanged, 642 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 5.71 billion units worth RM3.81 billion.

Top Glove and Hartalega continued to lead the heavyweights and gainers list, adding RM2.82 and RM1.52 to RM22.52 and RM16.68, respectively.

Meanwhile, the list of top gainers also included Supermax, which increased by RM1.82 to RM16.72, and Kossan, which added 80 sen to RM13.06.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank improved eight sen to RM7.90 and TNB was 16 sen higher at RM11.52.

Of the most active, Pegasus lost half-a-sen at two sen, while both XOX and Lambo rose half-a-sen to 15.5 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index leapt 182.94 points to 11,223.35, the FBMT 100 Index appreciated 183.29 points to 11,080.14 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 296.04 points to 12,905.33.

The FBM 70 was stronger by 262.73 points at 13,961.84 and the FBM ACE increased sharply by 234.07 points to 7,401.32.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 49.42 points to 13,583.63, the Plantation Index was 10.91 points higher at 6,973.26 and the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.72 of-a-point to 138.49. ― Bernama