KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-day in tracking the upbeat performance of regional peers, dealers said.

A dealer said the benchmark FBM KLCI posted gains as investors continued to monitor the US-China trade relationship, and also responded well to the US Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged for now.

“However, there is a possibility of a rate cut soon as requested by President Donald Trump, as the US economy is facing a slowdown with inflation below target,” he added.  

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI added 2.27 points to 1,668.81 from Wednesday’s close of 1,666.54, after opening 5.71 points lower at 1,660.83.

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The index moved between 1,660.83 and 1,670.63 throughout the morning session.

Gainers slightly edged out losers 340 to 335, while 347 counters were unchanged, 856 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Volume stood at 1.25 billion units worth RM978.65 million.

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The performance of the local bourse was led by buying in Tenaga which rose 38 sen to RM13.68, Genting (+19 sen to RM6.87) and RHB (+10 sen to RM5.61).

Genting Malaysia Bhd’s chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay yesterday announced that he would take a 20 per cent pay cut which is expected to help reduce costs to the company which is facing higher gaming taxes.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.93, Public Bank declined 10 sen to RM23, and Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.36, while CIMB was four sen lower at RM5.22.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Iskandar Waterfront slipped six sen to RM1.04, Borneo Oil and Ekovest were flat each at 4.5 sen and 84.5 sen respectively, but Greatech fell two sen to 94.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index gained 36.66 points to 11,735.37, the FBMT 100 Index increased 37.71 points to 11,590.91 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 61.92 points to 12,070.58.

 The FBM Ace improved 33.67 points to 4,356.98 and the FBM 70 jumped 136.23 points to 14,477.11.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased 18.81 points to 16,658.75, the Industrial Products & Services Index inched down 0.14 of-a-point to 160.13 and the Plantation Index was 73.73 points weaker at 6,980.76. — Bernama