KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 ― Persistent buying momentum in index-linked counters, led by Press Metal and rubber glove stocks, helped Bursa Malaysia's key index to end the morning session higher despite a weaker broader market.

At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.02 points better at 1,601.3 against 1,598.28 at yesterday's close.

The index, which opened 1.53 points higher at 1,599.81, moved between 1,597.78 and 1,604.63 throughout the session.

Aluminium extrusion company Press Metal's share price soared 58 sen to RM10.60 with 3.71 million shares changing hands today, contributing 4.431 points to the composite index.

As for rubber glove makers, Top Glove rose 22 sen to RM5.35, Hartalega increased 35 sen to RM9.82, and Supermax bagged 36 sen to RM4.96. These rubber glove stocks contributed a combined 7.539 points to FBM KLCI.

A dealer said buying interest in rubber gloves resurfaced as Covid-19 infections in the country had continued to show an upward trend.

New Covid-19 cases in Malaysia surged to 1,889 yesterday from 1,767 a day earlier ― the highest number of new infections since March 6. This brought the country's total confirmed cases to 365,829.

However, on the broader market, losers trounced gainers 631 to 316, while 889 counters were unchanged, 343 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 3.54 billion shares worth RM2.33 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM8.32, Petronas Chemicals perked two sen to RM7.90, and Tenaga was flat at RM10.16.

Public Bank and CIMB slipped one sen each to RM4.19 and RM4.27 respectively, while IHH Healthcare fell seven sen to RM5.33.

Of the active counters, LKL added one sen to 36.5 sen, Minda picked up 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen, Focus trimmed six sen to 29 sen, and Mestron edged up three sen to 32.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 6.58 points lower at 11,828.26, the FBMT 100 shed 4.5 points to 11,478.14, the FBM 70 fell 106.71 points to 15,731.8 and the FBM ACE erased 258.81 points to 9,074.69.

However, the FBM Emas Shariah gained 22.4 points to 13,225.11.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index slid 38.56 points to 6,930.26 and the Financial Services Index contracted 45.89 points to 15,075.34, but the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.62 points to 196.54. ― Bernama