KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a firm note, as gains in banking heavyweights continued to support the barometer index.
The performance was in line with Asian peers which were mostly higher despite mixed cues from Wall Street last Friday.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.14 points to 1,693.72 from Friday's close of 1,684.58.
It opened 2.12 points easier at 1,682.46 and moved between 1,678.14 and 1,695.96 throughout the morning session.
However, on the broader market, losers led gainers 715 to 607, while 359 counters were unchanged, 463 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Volume stood at 4.74 billion units worth RM3.96 billion.
A dealer said regional market was positive amid vaccine progress, as the United States began shipping out the vaccines over the weekend.
The market sentiment was also supported by news that Britain and the European Union had agreed to continue Brexit trade talks beyond Sunday's deadline, he said.
On the local front, he said the market remained robust, extending last Friday’s 18-month high close, riding on the recovery theme as well as the ongoing window dressing period.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added six sen to RM8.97, Public Bank bagged 66 sen to RM22.56, Petronas Chemicals increased one sen to RM7.90 and Tenaga gained 44 sen to RM10.78, while Top Glove shed 48 sen to RM6.42.
Of the actives, Sino Hua-An rose 3.5 sen to 16.5 sen, AirAsia X gained two sen to 11 sen, Iris edged up half-a-sen to 3.9 sen, MLabs warrants added two sen to 2.5 sen, and P.A Resources improved one sen to 19 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lifted 37.47 points to 12,123.18 and the FBMT 100 Index advanced 40.69 points to 11,889.43.
The FBM 70 decreased 39.69 points to 15,330.32, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 122.04 points to 13,309.49 and the FBM ACE dropped 319.39 points to 10,751.71.
Meanwhile, the Financial Services jumped 357.85 points to 16,403.98 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.04 of a point to 177.71, but the Plantation Index gave up 52.45 points to 7,359.64. — Bernama
