KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Bursa Malaysia climbed higher at mid-afternoon, supported by expectations of a bullish earnings season as well as positive sentiments from the Malaysian political scene.

At 3.10pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.96 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 1,521.99 from Friday’s close of 1,518.03.  

The market bellwether opened 1.96 points higher at 1,519.99.

Market breadth was also positive with gainers outpacing decliners 499 to 393, while 437 counters were unchanged, 879 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.91 billion shares worth RM1.36 billion.

Heavyweights Press Metal rose seven sen to RM4.95, Genting Malaysia advanced eight sen to RM2.86, while Public Bank and Maybank added two sen to RM3.94 and RM8.14 respectively.

Petronas Dagangan gained 22 sen at RM18.94 and RHB Bank went up five sen to RM5.36.

Hartalega lost 11 sen to RM6.95 and Top Glove dropped two sen to RM3.78.

Among the actives, MMAG and Fintec Global were unchanged at 13 sen and 2.5 sen respectively, while Advance Synergy fell four sen to 15 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 41.82 points to 11,149.78, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 39.22 points to 10,859.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 30.63 points to 12,248.14, the FBM 70 went up 95.78 points to 14,694.63, while the FBM ACE dropped 14.63 points to 7,131.73.  

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 3.53 points to 6,419.91, the Financial Services Index rose 54.97 points to 14,897.84, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.13 points to 189.39. — Bernama