KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index extended its upward momentum at mid-morning, supported by continued buying interest in key index heavyweights, led by financial services.

At 11.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.34 points to 1,702.78, up from yesterday’s close of 1,695.44, after opening 5.30 points higher at 1,700.74.

However, market breadth was negative with losers edging up gainers 400 to 394, while 426 counters were unchanged, 1,418 untraded, and 12 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.56 billion units valued at RM1.03 billion.

Among the heavyweight stocks, Maybank and CIMB were eight sen higher at RM11.02 and RM8.29, respectively. Public Bank gained four sen to RM4.63, Tenaga Nasional increased 10 sen to RM13.70, and IHH gained one sen to RM8.56.

On the most active list, MMAG inched up half-a-sen to 6.5 sen, Semico bagged 22 sen to 47 sen, IJM improved eight sen to RM2.83, Pharmaniaga added 1.5 sen to 30 sen, but Ingenieur was half-a-sen lower at 3.5 sen.

Among top gainers, Hong Leong Industries advanced 20 sen to RM16.86, Spritzer improved 17 sen to RM2.99, PMB Technology added 16 sen to RM1.45, Bursa Malaysia advanced 13 sen to RM8.57, and Batu Kawan rose 12 sen to RM20.20.

Top decliners saw Malaysian Pacific’s 40 sen drop to RM32.58, Petronas Dagangan lost 36 sen to RM20.32, Nestle slipped 30 sen to RM119.70, while Fraser & Neave and Dutch Lady decreased 16 sen each to RM36.50 and RM31.08.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index added 41.99 points to 12,572.76, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 46.72 points to 12,366.31, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 3.60 points higher at 12,320.47.

The FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 36.94 points to 17,594.13, while the FBM ACE Index decreased 15.04 points to 4,989.74.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 152.72 points to 20,338.98, the Energy Index lost 1.20 points to 783.27, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.52 of-a-point to 173.49, and the Plantation Index decreased 41.43 points to 8,618.85. — Bernama