KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Bursa Malaysia was higher at mid-afternoon, boosted by positive sentiment amid the resumption of interstate travels and surging oil prices.

At 3.01pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 9.40 points firmer at 1,573.30 compared to 1,563.9 at Friday’s close.

The bellwether index opened 3.98 of-a-point better at 1,567.88.

In the broader market, gainers led decliners 643 to 418, while 386 counters were unchanged, 811 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover stood at 5.23 billion units worth RM2.57 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals and IHH added six sen to RM8.74 and RM6.69 respectively, Maybank gained 12 sen to RM8.17, Press Metal advanced nine sen to RM6.18, and CIMB was eight sen higher at RM4.98.

As for the active counters, Serba Dinamik gained three sen to 39.5 sen, Borneo Oil remained flat at three sen, Kanger International improved half-a-sen to 6.5 sen, AirAsia Group jumped nine sen to RM1.28, and MMAG eased half-a-sen to 10 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 81 points to 11,582.76, the FBMT 100 Index rose 72.21 points to 11,230.38, the FBM Emas Shariah Index picked up 59.87 points to 12,699.56, the FBM 70 climbed 117.95 points to 15,213.37, and the FBM ACE added 32.92 points to 7,173.34.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index firmed 140.24 points to 15,352.80, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 1.43 points to 210.89, and the Plantation increased 78.98 points to 7,044.01. — Bernama