KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 ― Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-morning tracking the positive momentum of regional peers, buoyed by optimism of economic recovery following the easing of lockdowns in major economies and overnight gains on Wall Street, dealers said.

At 11.35am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 24.09 points higher to 1,580.42 from last Friday’s close of 1,556.33.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 779 to 244, while 339 counters were unchanged, 539 untraded and 20 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 4.80 billion units worth RM3.04 billion.

Public Bank Bhd in a note today said the FBM KLCI opened higher today after major US stock benchmarks finished Monday's trading, above or near their prior all-time closing highs, as lockdown measures eased in New York City and elsewhere, sparking optimism about the potential for an economic rebound.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM8.12, Public Bank increased 10 sen to RM17.42, Petronas Chemicals rose 29 sen to RM6.99 and IHH Healthcare gained eight sen to RM5.63.

Tenaga declined six sen to RM11.90.

Of the most actives, AirAsia X edged added two sen to 12.5 sen,  AirAsia group gained 17.5 sen to RM1.04, Sapura Energy edged up half-a-sen to 11 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum gained one sen to 69 sen while Eduspec was flat at 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 186.96 points higher at 11,117.74, the FBMT 100 Index jumped 179.53 points to 10,971.77, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 197.27 points for 12,504.37, the FBM 70 surged 273.94 points to 13,665.78 and the FBM ACE added 55.58 points to 5,908.11.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 3.47 points to 142.52, the Financial Services Index advanced 136.73 points to 13,862.75 and the Plantation Index increased 110.44 points to 6,897.46. ― Bernama