KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 ― Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-morning, thanks to persistent buying momentum among the heavyweights, especially in the plantation counters and small-cap stocks, dealers said.

At 11.03am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 12.25 points to 1,542.67 from yesterday’s close of 1,530.42.

Plantation counters were on the rise this morning as the crude palm oil futures market rose to an all-time high yesterday due to tight supplies and strong demand from China.

Sime Darby Plantation soared 29 sen to RM3.95, Kuala Lumpur Kepong surged RM1.26 to RM21.44 and IOI Corp increased 13 sen to RM3.90.

The overall market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 536 to 325, while 687 counters were unchanged, 723 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.99 billion units worth RM1.11 million.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB bagged four sen each to RM8.05 and RM4.76, respectively, Petronas Chemicals garnered 21 sen to RM8.90, IHH gained three sen to RM6.63 and Tenaga added two sen to RM9.64, while Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.05.

Of the actives, AT Systematization inched up half-a-sen to six sen, SC Estate improved 3.5 sen to 12.5 sen and Serba Dinamik added one sen to 33.5 sen, while TA Win slipped one sen to 12.5 sen and Sapura Energy was flat at 10 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 76.11 points higher at 11,355.86, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 73.43 points to 11,020.46, the FBM Emas Shariah Index soared 113.12 points to 12,450.07, the FBM 70 earned 44.75 points to 14,962.94, and the FBM ACE increased 90.28 points to 7,101.55.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index surged 251.75 points to 6,655.99, the Financial Services Index expanded 31.0 points to 15,133.03, and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 2.73 points to 207.77. ― Bernama