KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 ― Bursa Malaysia's key index ended the morning trading session slightly higher, though its gains were capped by losses in financial and consumer products and services counters.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.97 of-a-point higher at 1,545.68 from yesterday’s close of 1,544.71.

The market bellwether opened 2.32 of-a-point lower at 1,542.39 and fluctuated between 1,541.72 and 1,548.64 throughout the session.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 452 to 386, while 434 counters were unchanged, 948 untraded, and 67 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.94 billion units valued at RM1.34 billion.

In a statement, Rakuten Trade said it believes that the announcement of the RM150 billion PEMULIH economic stimulus package would have minimal impact on the market.

Thus, it expects the index’s performance to be quite subdued and trend within the 1,540-1550 range today.

An analyst said the market staged a tepid rebound following mild bargain hunting activities in selected lower liners and blue chips.

Regional peers were in the red with Singapore's Straits Times Index losing 0.97 per cent to 3,096.47, Japan's Nikkei easing 0.9 per cent to 28,786.29 and China's Hang Seng Index 0.77 per cent weaker at 29,043.02.

The United States stock markets closed on a mixed note as the Dow fell 0.4 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent and Nasdaq was 1.0 per cent higher, boosted by the gains in technology shares.

Back home, heavyweights Maybank and Public Bank lost one sen to RM8.13 and RM4.14, respectively, PetChem was five sen weaker at RM8.07 and TNB dropped three sen to RM9.82.

Genting Malaysia declined four sen to RM2.82 and Genting Bhd dipped six sen to RM4.94.

Conversely, Hartalega gained 16 sen to RM7.46, while Press Metal and Sime Darby increased six sen to RM4.85 and RM2.19, respectively.

Of the actives, newly-listed Nestcon increased five sen to 33 sen, Serba Dinamik recovered 1.5 sen to 34 sen, and MMAG was flat at 13.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 17.49 points to 11,234.83, the FBMT 100 Index increased 15.70 points to 10,953.67, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 47.39 points to 12,294.87.

The FBM ACE was 107.48 points better at 7,103.02 and the FBM 70 added 55.39 points to 14,528.62.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 19.54 points to 15,137.43, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.48 of-a-point higher at 187.43, and the Plantation Index increased 16.39 points to 6,447.42. ― Bernama