KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 ― Bursa Malaysia ended today's morning session higher on continued buying in technology counters, bucking the downtrend seen in other markets in the region, a dealer said.

At lunch break, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 8.07 points to 1,584.69 after moving between 1,583.90 and 1,609.19 throughout the session.

The index opened 13.97 points higher at 1,590.59 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,576.62.

On the broader market, gainers thumped losers 598 to 326, while 319 counters were unchanged, 611 untraded and 20 others suspended.

Volume stood at 2.49 billion units worth RM1.79 billion.

A dealer said most of the Asian shares fell today as investors considered the possibility that a US fiscal-relief package might be delayed and mulled extended valuations in some markets.

However, he said the local market gained support as Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah brushed off concerns over MCO 3.0 and the broader market could perform a relief rebound Tuesday.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank jumped 27 sen to RM4.53, Maybank added 7.0 sen to RM7.95, Petronas Chemicals went up 4.0 sen to RM 6.94 and TNB gained 6.0 sen to RM9.71, while Top Glove declined 14 sen to RM6.38.

Of the actives, Fintec earned half-a-sen to 8.0 sen, DNeX rose 1.0 sen to 31 sen, Key ASIC advanced 2.0 sen to 11 sen and MLabs added 1.5 sen to 8.0 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 66.08 points to 11,456.63 and the FBMT 100 Index rose 60.40 points to 11,195.64 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 41.64 points lower at 12,850.94.

The FBM 70 picked up 92.70 points to 14,716.92 and the FBM ACE increased 197.80 points to 10,868.05.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 307.77 points to 14,872.51, while the Plantation Index decreased 18.44 points to 7,166.02, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.37 of-a-point to 171.17. ― Bernama