KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — Bursa Malaysia has maintained its positive tone at the end of the morning trading session, thanks to buying support in selected heavyweights, led by Press Metal and Top Glove.

At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.43 points to 1,564.72, from Thursday’s close of 1,561.29.

The index, which opened 0.86 of-a-point better at 1,562.15, fluctuated between 1,558.56 and 1,566.84 during the session.

Press Metal increased 16 sen to RM6.06, while Top Glove bagged seven sen to RM2.82. Both stocks contributed a combined 3.35 points to the composite index.

The overall market breadth remained upbeat with 494 gainers and 451 losers, while 442 counters were unchanged, 882 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.79 billion units worth RM1.77 billion.

A dealer said sentiment in the market improved following the overnight rally in the United States’ (US) stock markets, as lawmakers reached a deal to increase the country’s debt ceiling in the short term.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH gained two sen each to RM8.07 and RM6.65, respectively, Petronas Chemicals added one sen to RM8.69, CIMB improved four sen to RM4.90, while Public Bank and Tenaga slipped one sen each to RM4.07 and RM9.72, respectively.

Of the actives, SC Estate shed four sen to 12.5 sen and Alam Maritim inched down half-a-sen to five sen, while Opcom picked up six sen to RM1.52 and KNM added half-a-sen to 22.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 26.27 points higher at 11,499.49, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 30.93 points to 11,161.85, the FBM Emas Shariah Index earned 26.65 points to 12,634.85, and the FBM 70 soared 67.22 points to 15,092.07.

The FBM ACE, however, fell 45.4 points to 7,091.7.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 35.82 points to 15,235.16, the Plantation Index went up 7.23 points to 6,968.12, while the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.78 points to 209.43. — Bernama