KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 ― Bursa Malaysia stayed higher at mid-afternoon today, led by consumer products and services, as well as telecommunications counters.

At 3.06pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 6.24 points to 1,550.26 from yesterday’s close of 1,544.02.

The benchmark index opened 0.49 of-a-point lower at 1,543.53.

On the broader market, gainers and decliners were nearly even at 510 to 506, with 449 counters unchanged, 818 untraded, and 13 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 3.13 billion units worth RM1.70 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby increased 9.0 sen to RM2.68, Telekom Malaysia gained 14 sen to RM6.13, CelcomDigi added 7.0 sen to RM4.31, MISC increased 11 sen to RM7.77, Tenaga perked up 12 sen to RM11.50, and YTL Power International improved 4.0 sen to RM3.95.

As for the actives, Alpha IVF Group edged up 1.5 to 34 sen, Ahmad Zaki Resources gained 2.5 sen to 24.5 sen, Zantat rose 1.5 sen to 50.5 sen, and SNS Network was 5.0 sen firmer at 34 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 40.24 points higher at 11,648.87, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 41.12 points to 11,291.07, the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 60.81 points to 11,741.70, and the FBM 70 Index increased 41.45 points to 16,217.21, and the FBM ACE Index rose 22.20 points to 4,924.28.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index notched up 32.57 points to 17,367.86 and the Energy Index added 4.50 points to 957.05, but the Plantation Index declined 6.76 points to 7,309.66, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.06 of-a-point to 179.99. ― Bernama