KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Bursa Malaysia remained positive at mid-afternoon today, supported by persistent buying in most index-linked counters.

At 30.3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 10.27 points or 0.65 per cent to 1,578.40 from 1,568.13 at yesterday’s close.

The key index opened 9.34 points higher to 1,577.47 at 9am.

Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 630 to 478, while 378 counters were unchanged, 497 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Trading volume stood at 11.78 billion shares worth RM5.80 billion. 

On the overall trading, stocks in the energy and FBM ACE index received the most support, gaining 4.32 per cent and 3.27 per cent, respectively.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose five sen to RM7.52, Top Glove put on 28 sen to RM28.22 and Hartalega increased two sen to RM19.82.

Public Bank edged up four sen to RM16.72, while Tenaga and IHH climbed six sen each to RM11.00 and RM5.30, respectively.

Of the most active counters, XOX and Borneo Oil were both flat to 26.0 sen and five sen respectively while Niche Capital perked up 10.5 sen to 22 sen. 

Among the top gainers, HLT rose 69 sen to RM3.14, Nestle increased 60 sen to RM140.00, Upa added 62 sen to RM2.70 and Supermax increased 58 sen to RM23.58.  

For the top losers, Carlsberg dropped 36 sen to RM23.20, Adventa dipped 29 sen to RM4.79 and Pharma slid 20 sen to RM4.58.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged up 76.23 points to 11,417.41, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 110.07 points firmer at 13,588.23 and the FBMT 100 Index rose 74.37 points to 11,217.66.

The FBM 70 gained 104.65 points to 15,006.42 and the FBM ACE soared 331.88 points to 10,463.96.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.28 points to 140.88, the Financial Services Index went up 45.05 points to 12,901.16 and the Plantation Index climbed 40.19 points to 7,028.66. — Bernama