KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Bursa Malaysia recovered from a slight downtrend in mid-morning to end higher in the afternoon session, in tandem with regional peers, said dealers.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) garnered 12.14 points to 1,519.83 from 1,507.69 at yesterday’s close.

The index opened 7.99 points stronger at 1,507.69 this morning and hovered between 1,492.34 and 1,520.91 throughout the early session.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said upsides showed by the FBM KLCI will remain steady over the near term, adding that the firmer crude oil and crude palm oil prices also provide some supporting factors.

“With the 1,500 psychological level taken out, we think that the recent streak of buying momentum is likely to sustain for the key index, potentially heading towards the 1,510 and 1,530 resistance levels.

“The support remains pegged at the 1,460 level,” the research house said in a note today.

At the lunch break, the benchmark Brent crude oil breached the US$40 (RM170.46) per barrel mark by rising 1.16 per cent to US$40.03 per barrel.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei Index improved 1.93 per cent to 22,755.58, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.11 per cent to 23,995.94 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index grew 2.38 per cent to 2,611.63.

Back home, decliners exceeded gainers 529 to 447, while 377 counters were unchanged, 515 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 6.36 billion units worth RM4.14 billion.

Among heavyweights, Maybank increased 31 sen to RM7.82, Public Bank improved to a staggering RM1.04 to RM16.68 and Petronas Chemicals added 25 sen to RM6.47.

Meanwhile, Tenaga and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM12.00 and RM5.51 respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 59.21 points better at 10,708.82, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 62.85 points to 10,563.73, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 105.01 points to 12,099.77, the FBM ACE declined 147.67 points to 5,725.4, and the FBM 70 trimmed 9.52 points to 13,209.02.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 563.67 points to 13,255.37, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 2.11 points to 133.52, and the Plantation Index improved 20.93 points to 6,774.78. — Bernama