KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Bursa Malaysia reversed earlier losses to climb higher at mid-afternoon, as investors heaved a sigh of relief over the latest political development in the country.

At 3.06 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rebounded 4.11 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 1,522.54 from yesterday’s close of 1,518.43.

The market barometer opened 4.25 points easier at 1,514.18.

Overall, market breadth remained negative with losers surpassing gainers 467 to 392, while 447 counters were unchanged, 819 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 4.08 billion units worth RM2.28 billion.

A dealer said buying interest had restored in the blue-chip counters, as investors saw political clarity with no major announcement being made by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today.

More than half of the 30 FBM KLCI constituents regained traction from traders, with Top Glove leading the gains by accumulating 11 sen to RM9.08, followed by IHH which bagged seven sen to RM5.06.

Maxis rose six sen to RM5.09, Public Bank strengthened 10 sen to RM15.92 and Petronas Dagangan firmed 30 sen to RM19.80.

Among the most active counters, Advance Synergy added 2.5 sen to 23 sen, AirAsia X and Malayan United Industries ticked up half-a-sen each to 4.5 sen and 12 sen respectively, while AT Systematization was unchanged at seven sen.

The top gainers list was led by Nestle, which surged RM1.10 to RM140.20, followed by MPI which leapt 60 sen to RM19.80.

Rubberex garnered 46 sen to RM6.94, Greatech was 33 sen stronger at RM7.32 and Supermax lifted 28 sen to RM10.24.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 28.35 points to 10,996.87, the FBMT 100 Index perked 29.91 points to 10,816.80 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 54.39 points to 13,160.69.

The FBM 70 expanded 42.69 points to 14,454.99 but the FBM ACE skidded 10.78 points to 10,569.18.

The Plantation Index grew 16.43 points to 7,018.61 while the Financial Services Index dwindled 12.06 points to 12,532.92 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.11 of-a-point to 141.21. — Bernama