KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — Bursa Malaysia was slightly higher at midafternoon with continuous buying interest for bluechip counters, said a dealer.

At 3.10pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.9 points to 1,539.73 from yesterday’s close of 1,535.83.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.69 points higher at 1,536.52.

On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 476 to 406, while 431 counters were unchanged, 963 untraded, and 29 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.16 billion units worth RM1.63 billion.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank gained five sen to RM9.75, Public Bank rose one sen to RM4.31, CIMB Group added 13 sen to RM6.65, and Tenaga Nasional inched up eight sen to RM11.24, while Petronas Chemicals shed seven sen to RM6.87.

As for the actives, AMMB Holdings added 15 sen to RM4.10, YTL Power International was down 25 sen to RM3.58, TWL Holdings and Malayan United Industries were unchanged at 3.5 sen and six sen, respectively, while Matang shed 1.5 sen to 8.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 27.10 points firmer at 11,420.09, the FBMT 100 Index improved 29.85 points to 11,085.31, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 24.181 points to 11,425.82 and the FBM 70 Index bagged 48.87 points to 15,392.14, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 26.61 points to 4,678.67.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 117.09 points to 17,380.93, the Plantation Index garnered 47.02 points to 7,314.83, the Energy Index increased 3.55 points to 900.76, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.71 of-a-point to 174.34. — Bernama