KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — Bursa Malaysia continued to rebound from an earlier pullback as sustained support was seen across almost all sectors, particularly financial and healthcare.

At noon break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 6.45 points to to 1,517.81, with Hartalega and Maybank among the stocks contributing to the rise.

The key index opened a point lower at 1,510.36 compared to Monday’s close of 1,511.36.

It hovered between 1,503.19 and 1,523.71 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers 600 to 428, while 368 counters were unchanged, 653 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 5.85 billion shares worth RM3.42 billion.

An analyst said the uptrend was in line with other Asian stock markets, getting a boost from China’s economic data.

It was reported today that retail sales in China increased 0.5 per cent in August from a year ago, the first positive print for the year so far, while its industrial production grew 5.6 per cent in the period.

He said market players were also awaiting the US Federal Reserve meeting tomorrow for clues on the country’s monetary policy.

Of the heavyweights, Hartalega jumped RM1.08 to RM14.08 despite Covid-19 vaccine optimism.

Maybank led the financial counters, increasing eight sen to RM7.36. Public Bank was 14 sen stronger at RM16.18, KLK added 48 sen to RM22.80, Dialog rose nine sen to RM3.77 and Sime Darby inched up seven sen to RM2.35.

In contrast, Top Glove dropped 24 sen to RM8.34, TNB declined 14 sen to RM11.04 and Petronas Gas was 16 sen weaker to RM16.52.

The healthcare index remained in positive territory as the pharmaceutical counters recorded gains following Covid-19 vaccine optimism.

Among the top gainers, Pharmaniaga and Duopharma rose 21 sen each to RM4.70 and RM3.31, respectively.

Supermax remained in the red, losing 66 sen to RM8.34. Rubberex fell 33 sen to RM5.30 and Comfort Gloves dropped 28 sen to RM4.09.

Of the actives, Parkson went up one sen to 20 sen, Hiap Teck improved 2.5 sen to 25 sen and Bintai Kaiden added 16 sen to 68 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 30.71 points to 10,903.19 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 15.28 points at 12,894.11.

The FBM 70 shed 15.16 points to 14,039.93, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 31.17 points to 10,712.36 and the FBM ACE surged 221.16 points to 11,280.52.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index leaped 94.21 points to 12,656.02, the Plantation Index improved 54.51 points to 7,089.57, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was up 0.48 of-a-point to 137.12. — Bernama