KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, supported by the positive development in the local economy, dealers said.

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.38 points to 1,504.11 from Monday’s close of 1,496.73.

The market bellwether, which opened 2.70 points better at 1,499.43, fluctuated between 1,498.53 and 1,514.52 throughout the session.

On the broader market, gainers thumped losers 522 versus 418, while 420 counters were unchanged, 844 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.51 billion units worth RM1.53 billion.

In a research note, Rakuten Trade said it expects some buying to persist following the easing of the ongoing movement control order and projects the local benchmark index to hover in the 1,495-1,505 range today.

It said equities tied to the reopening of the economy made a strong comeback as the Wall Street closed higher again.

“Buoyed by the United States’ Senate’s infrastructure plan which includes new spending of US$550 billion, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 165 points to close near the 35,300 mark.

“On the local front, the FBM KLCI recovered some lost ground but still lacked the desired buying strength.

“We still see some selling from the foreign funds on Monday but was well absorbed,” it added.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank added 4.0 sen to RM8.04, TNB went up 3.0 sen to RM9.71, IHH Healthcare improved 2.0 sen to RM5.81, while Public Bank was flat at RM3.96 and Petronas Chemicals shed 1.0 sen to RM7.99.

Among the actives, DNex increased 4.0 sen to 85.5 sen, TA Win and M3 Technologies perked 1.5 sen each to 18.5 sen and 7.0 sen, respectively, while Serba Dinamik earned half-a-sen to 41 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 56.76 points higher at 11,055.10, the FBMT 100 Index perked 58.56 points to 10,765.70, the FBM 70 jumped 102.39 points to 14,697.33, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 76.47 points to 12,148.66 and the FBM ACE advanced 74.16 points to 7,268.37.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went up 60.06 points to 14,786.99, the Plantation Index bagged 31.83 points for 6,133.17, while the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.79 of-a-point to 190.11. — Bernama