KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — Bursa Malaysia remained above the 1,500 level at midday as investors continued to snap up bargains amid year-end window dressing activities.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended the morning session 9.51 points higher at 1,501.14 from yesterday’s closing of 1,491.63.

The market bellwether opened 0.30 points higher at 1,491.93 and moved between 1,491.93 and 1,503.33 throughout the session.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 435 to 321 gainers, while 374 counters were unchanged, 1,125 untraded, and 49 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.33 billion units worth RM842.40 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that after breaking the 1,500 mark, the composite index will face the next resistance at the 1,530 level.

Regional bullishness also contributed to today’s positive sentiment on the local front, with gains almost across all sectors except for telecommunications, property blue chips, and selected lower liners.

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals gained 18 sen to RM8.71, Public Bank added six sen to RM4.41, Hong Leong Bank soared 28 sen to RM20.82, while CIMB and Sime Darby Plantation edged up five sen to RM5.85 and RM4.70 respectively.

Maybank was flat at RM8.74 and Axiata lost six sen to RM3.04.

As for the actives, Vinvest and Top Glove were both flat at 19.5 sen and 91 sen respectively, Advance Synergy added half-a-sen to 18 sen, AHB gained one sen to 12.5 sen, while Infotec lost 2.0 sen to 87.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 58.15 points to 10,739.35, the FBMT 100 Index went up 56.13 points to 10,456.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 43.87 points to 10,928.27, the FBM 70 Index rose 25.92 points to 13,050.35, while the FBM ACE Index eased 1.21 points to 5,345.00.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 112.05 points to 16,648.76, the Plantation Index added 40.49 points to 7,088.41, the Industrial Products and Services Index put on 1.97 points to 183.20, and the Energy Index perked up 6.21 points to 780.52. — Bernama