KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 ― Bursa Malaysia retreated marginally to below the 1,500 level at mid-afternoon but remained in positive territory amid continuous window dressing activities.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.63 points to 1,499.26 at 3pm from yesterday’s closing of 1,491.63.

The market bellwether opened 0.30 points higher at 1,491.93.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 406 to 370 gainers, while 407 counters were unchanged, 1,072 untraded, and 49 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.54 billion units worth RM982.19 million.

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals gained 17 sen to RM8.70, Hong Leong Bank soared 26 sen to RM20.80, while Public Bank, CIMB and Sime Darby Plantation added five sen each to RM4.40, RM5.85 and RM4.70 respectively.

Maybank was flat at RM8.74 and Axiata lost five sen to RM3.05.

As for the actives, Vinvest and Advance Synergy were both flat at 19.5 sen and 17.5 sen respectively, Top Glove shed 1.5 sen to 89.5 sen, and AHB gained half-a-sen to 12 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 44.64 points to 10,725.84, the FBMT 100 Index went up 43.06 points to 10,443.64, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 27.59 points to 10,911.99, the FBM 70 Index rose 9.6 points to 13,034.03, while the FBM ACE Index eased 13.15 points to 5,333.06.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 112.32 points to 16,649.03, the Plantation Index added 23.62 points to 7,071.54, the Industrial Products and Services Index put on 1.72 points to 182.95, and the Energy Index perked up 4.68 points to 778.99. ― Bernama