KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher boosted by buying in heavyweights led by healthcare and utilities sectors, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.60 points to 1,489.24 compared with 1,484.64 at yesterday’s close.

The index, which opened 0.79 of-a-point better at 1,485.43, moved between 1,482.39 and 1,491.28 during the morning session.

However, on the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 408 to 324, while 384 counters were unchanged, 1,210 untraded, and 43 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.42 billion units valued at RM908.25 million.

A dealer said Bursa Malaysia saw volatile trading in early session with the FBM KLCI opening marginally higher but retreated thereafter before turning into positive territory again at mid-morning to end the morning session higher.

The local bourse was bolstered by buying in heavyweights which lifted the barometer index, led by glove makers and utilities stocks, he noted.

“The performance bucked the regional trend which was mostly lower, following the overnight weakness in US equities, which ended in the red again, led by selloffs in technology stocks and consumer discretionary.

“Sentiment on Asian bourses remained cautious as investors digest the outcome of major central bank decisions, in tacking the spike in global inflation as well as lingering concerns over the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant,” he added.

Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.70 per cent to 28,572.08, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1.28 per cent to 23,175.19, Singapore’s Straits Times Index decreased 0.28 per cent to 3,120.12, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.21 per cent to 3,000.16.

Among heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals gained five sen to RM8.73, Tenaga rose eight sen to RM9.32, IHH Healthcare and CIMB eased two sen each to RM6.48 and RM5.21, respectively, while Maybank and Public Bank were both flat at RM8.11 and RM4.03, respectively.

Of the actives, ATA IMS eased two sen to 66 sen, Kejuruteraan Asastera slid half-a-sen to 25 sen, Hwa Tai advanced eight sen each to 75 sen, while DGB Asia and Saudee were both flat at three sen and six sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 23.13 points higher at 10,852.80, the FBMT 100 Index perked up 26.87 points to 10,549.70, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 41.78 points to 11,678.54.

The FBM 70 improved 12.97 points to 13,973.03 and the FBM ACE bagged 16.20 points to 6,294.31.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index slipped 11.73 points to 6,347.43 and the Financial Services Index lost 15.84 points to 15,205.75, but the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.56 of-a-point to 195.29. ― Bernama