KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher today, boosted by continuous buying interest in banking stocks, despite the volatile regional markets, a dealer said.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.43 points to 1,586.39 from yesterday's close of 1,576.96.

The bellwether index, which opened 5.30 points firmer at 1,582.26, moved between 1,579.94 and 1,592.34 throughout the session.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 522 to 362, while 386 counters were unchanged, 988 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.59 billion units worth RM1.24 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said bargain hunting activities would soften the impact after the recent losses.

"Meanwhile, so far, results reported by corporate Malaysia showed significant improvements, which should be positive for the FBM KLCI,” he told Bernama.

He noted that crude palm oil closed at another record high at above RM6,350 per tonne, and foresee consensus on the plantation sector to be more upbeat.

"Therefore, the index is anticipated to hover in the 1,570-1,585 range throughout the day,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank expanded four sen to RM8.76, Public Bank ticked up one sen to RM4.35, Petronas Chemicals added nine sen to RM9.23, CIMB strengthened three sen to RM5.53 and IHH Healthcare bagged five sen to RM6.35.

Of the actives, Komarkcorp weakened half-a-sen to 10 sen, Destini remained unchanged at 19 sen and Menang Corporation added half-a-sen to 13 sen.

On the index board, FBM Emas Index was 74.55 points higher at 11,318.05, FBM Emas Shariah Index added 99.07 points to 12,023.06, FBMT 100 Index improved 74.68 points to 10,995.02, FBM ACE increased 47.12 points to 6,073.27 and FBM 70 was 132.90 points stronger at 13,519.96.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 54.76 points to 16,323.09, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 1.13 points to 209.24 and the Plantation Index rose 62.55 points to 7,842.78. ― Bernama