KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 ― Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-morning, supported by buying interest in selected heavyweights, led by the financial services and utilities counters.
In the financial services sector, Public Bank gained nine sen to RM3.97 and Maybank rose seven sen to RM8.41, while in the utilities sector, TNB added 11 sen to RM9.38.
The three counters boosted the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) by a combined 4.77 points.
At 11am, the benchmark index increased 11.46 points to 1,405.29 from yesterday's close of 1,393.83.
The key index opened 6.27 points better at 1,400.10.
In the broader market, gainers trumped decliners 527 to 213, while 312 counters were unchanged, 1,196 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.69 billion units valued at RM905.68 million.
Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals expanded six sen to RM7.01, CIMB and Hong Leong Bank increased by four sen to RM5.21 and RM20, respectively, while IHH Healthcare and CelcomDigi were flat at RM5.89 and RM4.08, respectively.
Among the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated inched up half-a-sen to 15 sen, ACE Market debutant Oppstar jumped RM1.54 to RM2.17, Jade Marvel was one sen higher at 30.5 sen and SMRT Holdings climbed four sen to 50.5 sen, while BSL inched down half-a-sen to 4.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 89.81 points stronger at 10,271.72, the FBM 70 Index swelled 121.90 points to 13,189.51, the FBMT 100 Index was 83.80 points higher at 9,962.57, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 72.51 points to 10,554.66, and the FBM ACE Index strengthened 83.81 points to 5,260.69.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 158.34 points to 15,537.57, the Energy Index gained 12.86 points to 837.14, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.45 points to 169.98, and the Plantation Index grew by 40.20 points to 6,707.50. ― Bernama
