KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 ― Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-afternoon with steady buying interest seen particularly for mid- and small-capitalisation counters.

As at 3.05pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.55 of-a-point to 1,608.62.

The index opened 3.97 points higher at 1,612.04 compared with 1,608.07 at yesterday’s close, and hit an intraday high of 1,613.01 at mid-morning today.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 687 to 483, while 415 counters were unchanged, 576 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 9.34 billion units worth RM3.72 billion.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Small Cap Index rose 133.74 points to 16,326.74, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia MidS Cap Index increased 227.02 points to 19,831.87, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia MidS Cap Shariah added 221.02 points to 20,042.17.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank was up three sen to RM8.15, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.22, PChem improved 22 sen to RM7.78, while Tenaga eased 18 sen to RM10.00, and Top Glove trimmed 10 sen to RM6.07.

Of the actives, DGB Asia improved five sen to 14.5 sen, ARBB added 3.5 sen to 37 sen, Dataprep rose 15 sen to 41 sen, while Lambo was flat at 2.5 sen, and Dagang NeXchange decreased three sen to 50.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 26.51 points to 11,763.38, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 20.48 points to 11,461.6, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 0.27 of-a-point weaker at 13,209.93.

The FBM 70 rose 91.55 points to 15,443.4 and the FBM ACE increased 69.38 points to 11,300.62.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 78.41 points to 15,194.36, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.64 points to 184.45, while the Plantation Index decreased 25.48 points to 7,170.42. ― Bernama