At 11.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 2.23 points to 1,577.61 from Wednesday's close of 1,575.38. ― Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 ― Bursa Malaysia turned slightly higher at mid-morning, backed by gains in selected heavyweights, dealers said.

At 11.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 2.23 points to 1,577.61 from Wednesday's close of 1,575.38.

Gains in Top Glove and Petronas Gas largely contributed to the recovery in the key index.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 608 to 339, while 344 counters were unchanged, 722 untraded and 25 others suspended.

Trading volume stood at 3.24 billion shares worth RM2.01 billion.

Nevertheless, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the FBMKLCI should be rangebound today amidst the volatility of the glove stocks.

"Therefore, we expect the benchmark index to trend within the 1,565-1,580 levels today,” it said in a note.

Of the heavyweights, Top Glove rose 76 sen to RM27.90, while Tenaga and Hartalega gained two sen each to RM11.02 and RM17.22, respectively.

Maybank shed five sen to RM7.59, Public Bank lost 14 sen to RM17.34, and Petronas Chemicals trimmed 10 sen to RM6.10.

It was reported that Maybank was among the largest lenders in Malaysia for Genting Hong Kong Ltd, with loan exposure amounted to US$350 million, which payment would likely be suspended as the Hong Kong-based cruise operator was preserving as much cash as possible to sustain operation.

Among the most actives, XOX and Lambo inched up half-a-sen each to 20 sen and five sen, respectively, Solution added 15 sen to 44 sen, while Systech bagged 5.5 sen to 28 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 44.7 points to 11,342.94, the FBMT 100 Index increased 33.25 points to 11,145.93 and the FBM ACE surged 275.46 points to 10,566.98.

However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index chalked up 104.71 points to 13,385.07 and the FBM 70 soared 112.04 points to 14,653.06.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index increased 31.81 points to 7,052.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.19 of-a-point to 142.07, but the Financial Services Index gave up 41.46 points for 13,076.23. ― Bernama