KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 ― Bursa Malaysia remained on the upbeat throughout the morning session with strong buying support in heavyweight stocks, led by healthcare, financial and telecommunication sectors.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 14.14 points to 1,638.92 from yesterday’s close of 1,624.78.

The key index opened 4.25 points higher at 1,629.03, and moved between 1,628.82 and 1,640.58   throughout the morning trading session.

Market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers 707 to 342 while 477 counters were unchanged, 669 untraded and eight others suspended.

Total volume stood at 6.20 billion units worth RM 3.97 billion.

Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.45 per cent to 28,904.0, Japan’s Nikkei was 0.01 per cent better at 29,029.45, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.94 per cent to 3,079.47 and South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.33 per cent to 2,966.42.

A dealer said Asian shares were mixed at midday today after trading quite firm earlier as easing bond yields brought investors back while also taking cue from the overnight US equities' performance which recovered all-round.

Although the Dow Jones Index Average closed off its record high at above the 32,000 mark, the Nasdaq surged by 3.6 per cent following a spate of profit-taking activities over the last few days.

On the local front, Bursa Malaysia stayed firm throughout the morning session, as recovery play strengthened after a much-needed improvement yesterday.

“Given the rebound in Nasdaq, market players may position themselves in the technology sector today.

“For heavyweight counters, Top Glove continued its strong performance after announcing strong second quarter results yesterday, while the financial stocks were also gaining after yesterday’s profit taking,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose nine sen to RM8.59, Public Bank gained four sen to RM4.46, Petronas Chemicals increased seven sen to RM8.20 and Tenaga added eight sen to RM10.78, but CIMB was flat at RM4.65.

Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange jumped 16 sen to 89 sen while its warrants gained 3.5 sen to 38 sen.

Saudee Group advanced 23 sen to 77 sen while its warrants picked up 10.5 sen to 14.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 98.94 points to 11,933.91, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 92.82 points to 11,634.18 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 116.93 points higher at 13,139.65.

The FBM ACE increased 140.68 points to 10,330.40 and the FBM 70 added 94.21 points to 15,507.48.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 132.02 points to 15,874.46 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.78 of-a-point to 188.0 but the Plantation Index shed 2.18 points to 7,165.50. ― Bernama