KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 ― Bursa Malaysia remained on a high note at mid-morning, driven by continued buying interest in selected heavyweights.

At 11.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 8.32 points to 1,594.30 from yesterday’s close of 1,585.98.

The index opened 7.64 points higher at 1,593.62.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 462 to 280, while 388 counters were unchanged, 1,160 untraded and 82 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 1.01 billion units worth RM658.97 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the strong surge in crude palm oil futures -- sparked by Indonesia’s move to expand the scope of its palm oil export ban -- may ignite another round of rally in the plantation sector.

Additionally, it said the revision of the mask mandate may benefit the recovery-themed sector such as consumers, tourism and banking.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added three sen to RM9.01, Public Bank was flat at RM4.71, Petronas Chemicals gained 26 sen to RM10.18, IHH Healthcare rose five sen to RM6.62 and CIMB increased two sen to RM5.17.

Of the actives, ACE market debutant MN Holdings gained by 2.5 sen to 23.5 sen, both Techna-X and Sapura Energy were flat at 11 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively, Anzo lost two sen to 1.5 sen and Widad slid half-a-sen to 36 sen.

On the index board, FBM 70 improved 103.85 points to 13,632.64, FBM Emas Index expanded 65.26 points to 11,403.06, FBMT 100 Index strengthened 63.90 points to 11,061.58, and FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 71.60 points to 11,953.55.

However, FBM ACE decreased 17.18 points to 5,553.59.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index accumulated 69.71 points to 16,869.73, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 3.45 points better at 209.62, and the Plantation Index increased 63.80 points to 8,781.99. ― Bernama