KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 ― Shares on Bursa Malaysia remained in positive territory at mid-morning, supported by buying interest in the banking sector.

At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.14 points to 1,575.68  from yesterday’s close of 1,583.50.

The index opened 0.44 of-a-point better at 1,583.94.

Overall market breadth was positive as gainers surpassed losers 482 to 361, while 403 counters were unchanged, 688 untraded and 26 others suspended.

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Total volume stood at 5.21 billion shares worth RM1.60 billion.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the prevailing low interest rate environment enticed investors to look into other asset classes ― including the equities market ― in search for higher yields.

“The positive momentum will enable the Malaysian stock market to trend higher as foreign funds net buying hit the highest level since Jan 17, 2020, coupled with the surge in trading activities,” it added.

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Among heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM7.95, Public Bank rose 28 sen to RM18.28, Tenaga shed four sen to RM11.52, Hartalega eased two sen to RM16.40 and Top Glove slipped six sen to RM20.48.

Of the most active, Fintec Global added two sen to 11 sen, PDZ Holdings shed one sen to 19.5 sen, Vortex improved one sen to nine sen, MQ Technology eased half-a-sen to 8.5 sen and DGB Asia edged up half-a-sen to 5.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas was 38.84 points better at 11,165.41, the FBMT 100 Index added 38.23 points to 11,013.68 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 11.88 points to 12,714.75.

The FBM 70 soared 140.88 points to 13,739.07 while the FBM ACE rose 80.57 points to 7,209.21.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 157.47 points to 13,612.48, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.37 of-a-point to 141.30 while the Plantation Index reduced 29.20 points to 6,857.99. ― Bernama