KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Hefty gains in Public Bank pushed the key Bursa Malaysia index to close the morning session on a firm note.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 15.63 points to 1,647.33 after moving between 1,638.77 and 1,650.73 throughout the session.

Public Bank contributed 11.19 points to the gains in the composite index after rising RM1.48 to RM19.94, with 13.23 million shares changing hands.

Yesterday, the banking group had proposed the issuance of up to 15.53 billion bonus shares on the basis of four bonus shares for every one existing share held.

 However, on the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 627 to 504, while 441 counters were unchanged, 567 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Volume stood at 7.29 billion units worth RM3.5 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the regional markets are set to move higher today as the US futures continued to gain further ground on optimism of global recovery.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 11 sen to RM8.35, Petronas Chemicals perked up five sen to RM7.65, while IHH Healthcare bagged six sen to RM5.61.

Tenaga lost 14 sen to RM10.62 while Top Glove and Hartalega fell 10 sen each to RM6.99 and RM14.56 respectively on the back of positive COVID-19 vaccine development.

As for actives, AirAsia X rose three sen to 10 sen, XOX inched up half-a-sen to 11 sen, Huaan gained two sen to 13 sen, while Yong Tai added 1.5 sen to 36 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 78.81 points to 11,894.6, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 77.97 points to 11,646.6 and the FBM ACE soared 156.71 points to 11,014.3.

However, the FBM 70 decreased 24.43 points to 15,343.1 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 41.85 points to 13,558.03.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.58 of-a-point to 176.1, the Financial Services Index surged 432.3 points to 14,996.66, but the Plantation Index was down 10.32 points to 7,359.39. — Bernama