KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher in tandem with the better performance of most regional peers despite the gloomy sentiment over the anticipation of further interest rate hikes by the United States Federal Reserve to tackle inflation, said a dealer.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 11.54 points to 1,431.92 from yesterday's close of 1,420.38.

The market bellwether opened 5.14 points higher at 1,425.52 and moved between 1,422.08 and 1,433.21 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, advancers trounced decliners 469 to 277, while 336 counters were unchanged, 1,244 untraded, and 19 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.24 billion units valued at RM716.57 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd however said investors may position themselves ahead of the 15th general election (GE15) and the November corporate earnings reporting season,” it said in a note today.

It also reckoned that construction and banking sectors may gain momentum ahead of GE15 following a heavy selldown.

“We believe the politically-neutral sectors such as telecommunication and oil and gas may see some bargain-hunting. However, technology stocks may remain in a downtrend in line with the significant selling on US Nasdaq,” it added.

Heavyweights IHH Healthcare added eight sen to RM5.99, Hartalega gained 10 sen to RM2.02, Maybank perked up by five sen to RM8.46, Public bank rose two sen to RM4.38, and Tenaga Nasional climbed 11 sen to RM8.34.

As for the active stocks, Citaglobal and Bina Puri were unchanged at 29 sen and 2.5 sen respectively, Top Glove increased 2.5 sen to 74.5 sen, Southern Cable-WA went up six sen to 8.5 sen, and Hibiscus Petroleum improved five sen to RM1.04.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 69.36 points to 10,172.88, the FBM 70 was 34.87 points firmer at 12,094.57, and the FBMT 100 Index perked up 67.86 points to 9,906.06.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 84.90 points to 10,243.45, while the FBM ACE put on 27.34 points to 4,913.77.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 65.32 points to 16,120.96, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.05 points to 173.31, the Plantation Index climbed 38.22 points to 6,755.25, and the Energy Index was 14.28 points better at 722.32. ― Bernama