KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — Bursa Malaysia extended its earlier gains into midafternoon, supported by persistent buying in heavyweights led by Nestle, CIMB Group and IHH Healthcare.

The three companies contributing a combined 3.72 points to the composite index.

At 3pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.39 of-a-point to 1,505.84 from Friday’s close of 1,505.45. The benchmark index opened 1.05 points higher at 1,506.50.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 566 to 236, while 425 counters were unchanged, 1,199 untraded, and 19 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.15 billion shares worth RM1.13 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained 4 sen to RM10.22, CIMB Group and IHH Healthcare rose 7 sen each to RM6.92 and RM6.97, while Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.48, and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM13.56.

Among the actives, Pertama Digital added half-a-sen to 16.5 sen, Tanco Holdings climbed 4.0 sen to RM1.90, while Saliran Group slipped 1.5 sen to 24 sen, Malayan United Industries eased half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, and Kinergy Advancement was flat at 32.5 sen

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell by 32.43 points to 11,273.36, the FBMT 100 Index lost 26.67 points to 11,034.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened by 40.14 points to 10,987.03, the FBM 70 Index tumbled 156.31 points to 16,131.76, and the FBM ACE Index declined 90.61 points to 4,734.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 40.90 points to 18,398.85, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 1.59 points to 151.84, and the Energy Index dropped 3.41 points to 748.39.

Meanwhile, the Plantation Index added 6.85 points to 7,456.78. — Bernama