KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher in line with regional peers and amid optimism among traders in scouring for bargains.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 15.53 points better at 1,859.45 from 1,843.92 at Friday’s close.

After opening 7.74 points better at 1,851.66 this morning, the index hovered between 1,850.62 and 1,859.6 throughout the morning session.

Public Investment Bank Bhd said in a note that traders were upbeat after global and regional micro and macro-economy indicators showed an improvement, as hopes grew that relations between the US and North Korea could improve.

“Meanwhile, after surprisingly robust February job gains came without signs of inflationary pressures, investors will look to Tuesday’s consumer price report to solidify expectations for the Federal Reserve’s path,” it added.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 1.58 per cent to 3,540.52, Japan’s Nikkei improved 1.43 per cent to 21,775.14, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 1.48 per cent better at 31,455.24.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outpaced losers 531 to 284, with 374 counters unchanged, 687 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.38 billion shares worth RM966.22 million.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Axiata increased four sen each to RM10.48 and RM5.47, respectively, while Public Bank added two sen to RM23.02 and Tenaga rose eight sen to RM15.62.

Of the actively-traded stocks, NWP Holdings gained four sen to 30.5 sen, while Nexgram and Berjaya Corp were half-a-sen higher at 4.5 sen and 35 sen respectively.

Meanwhile, SKH Consortium was half-a-sen easier at 9.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index increased 112.81 points to 13,081.76, the FBMT 100 Index was 114.1 points higher at 12,825.3 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 139.56 points to 13,262.07.

The FBM 70 gained 162.55 points to 15,585.82 and the FBM Ace was 61.14 points higher at 6,033.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index improved 91.6 points to 18,084.35, the Industrial Index increased 42.28 points to 3,224.14 and the Plantation Index rose 46.66 points to 8,090.82. — Bernama