KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a firm note, mainly lifted by Top Glove and Hartalega as bargain-hunting in the two counters emerged after a recent sell-off.

Across the board, the second-tier glove counters also made a comeback and lifted the Healthcare Index by 220.33 points to 3,365.53.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 4.55 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 1,494.67 from Thursday's close of 1,490.12.

The key index opened 3.89 points easier at 1,486.23 and hovered between 1,477.47 and 1,499.11 throughout the morning session.

Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 559 to 395, while 630 counters were unchanged, 462 untraded and 33 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 4.80 billion shares worth RM3.86 billion.

Among the 30 FBM KLCI linked counters, only three were in the black, namely Top Glove which surged RM1.11 to RM7.56, Hartalega added 62 sen to RM12.50 and IOI Corp perked up two sen to RM4.50.

Two blue chips were flat, namely Genting Malaysia and Petronas Gas which traded unchanged at RM2.23 and RM16.54, respectively while the remaining 25 counters were in the red.

Rubber glove counters returned on investors’ radar after the recent falls, with top gainers list, again, being dominated by rubber glove stocks, especially Supermax warrants.

Other than Top Glove and Hartalega, glove counters that posted gains included Supermax which soared RM1.15 to RM7.25.

Rubberex put on 90 sen to RM5.20, Kossan gained 74 sen to RM10.44, Comfort added 39 sen to RM3.62 and Careplus was 36 sen higher at RM2.38.

Of the actives, XOX rose 1.5 sen to 20 sen, Macpie bagged 2.5 sen to 34.5 sen, Kanger International put on five sen to 26 sen, while Sapura Energy and Borneo Oil were flat at 10.5 sen and five sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 71.23 points to 10,680.16 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 171.14  points to 12,543.97.

The FBM 70 soared 221.20 points to 13,592.44, the FBMT 100 Index was 66.39 points firmer at 10,504.43 and the FBM ACE jumped 411.81 points to 10,109.32.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 102.96 points to 12,598.22,the Plantation Index retreated 20.19 points to 7,100.91 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.48 of-a-point to 134.36. ― Bernama