KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-morning today on continued buying support in index-linked counters, led by Press Metal.

At 11.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.77 points to 1,565.06 from Thursday’s close of 1,561.29.

Press Metal pushed the composite index higher by 2.029 points after rising 14 sen to RM6.04 with 4.1 million shares changing hands.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 475 to 421, while 406 counters were unchanged, 967 untraded, and 26 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.02 billion units worth RM1.23 billion.

Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI is likely to trade higher today after an overnight rally in US stocks as lawmakers reached a deal to increase the debt ceiling in the short term.

"Washington’s race to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling has been an overhang for the market this week as investors hoped to avoid a government default,” it said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH rose four sen each to RM8.09 and RM6.67 respectively, Petronas Chemicals bagged two sen to RM8.70, CIMB increased six sen to RM4.92, while Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.07 while TNB shed two sen to RM9.71.

Of the actives, SC Estate trimmed 3.5 sen to 13 sen, Alam Maritim inched down half-a-sen to five sen, KNM added half-a-sen to 22.5 sen, Opcom earned 13 sen to RM1.59, while Freight Management increased 17 sen to RM1.03.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd took over the listing status from BIMB Holdings Bhd (BIMB) this morning, thus completing BIMB’s restructuring exercise. At press time, the first pure-play, full-fledged Islamic financial institution stock rose four sen to RM3.05.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 26.66 points higher at 11,499.88, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 32.88 points to 11,163.8, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 19.82 points to 12,628.02, while the FBM 70 soared 67.82 points to 15,092.67.

The FBM ACE, however, decreased 32.18 points to 7,104.92.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index earned 48.9 points to 15,248.24, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.62 points to 209.27, while the Plantation Index fell 11.17 points to 6,949.72. — Bernama