KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Bursa Malaysia was higher at lunch break, boosted by positive sentiments amidst the resumption of interstate travels.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 9.25 points firmer at 1,573.15, compared to 1,563.9 at Friday’s close.

The bellwether index opened 3.98 of-a-point better at 1,567.88 and fluctuated between 1,567.88 and 1,574.72 throughout the morning trading session.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 631 to 381, while 392 counters were unchanged, 854 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover stood at 4.54 billion units worth RM2.18 billion.

Foreign funds and domestic traders are anticipating further economic recovery following the resumption of interstate and international travels.

Additionally, regional equity markets were mostly positive, supported by surging oil prices, despite the bearish cues from Wall Street at Friday’s closing following the United States’ (US) negative jobs data.

The US crude oil futures soared on Friday, surging past UUS$80 a barrel for the first time in seven years amid tight supply.

Back home, heavyweights Petronas Chemicals and IHH strengthened by seven sen to RM8.75 and RM6.70, respectively, while Maybank and CIMB gained eight sen to RM8.13 and RM4.98, respectively.

Press Metal rose nine sen to RM6.18 and Public Bank increased three sen to RM4.11.

As for the active counters, Serba Dinamik was 4.5 sen higher at 41 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 was 81.24 points stronger at 11,583.00, the FBMT 100 Index rose 72.62 points to 11,230.79, the FBM Emas Shariah Index picked up 68.27 points to 12,707.96, the FBM 70 soared 124.20 points to 15,219.62, and the FBM ACE recovered 25.60 points to 7,166.02.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index firmed 121.16 points to 15,333.72, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 1.69 points to 211.15, while the Plantation advanced 73.23 points to 7,038.26. — Bernama