KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher on bargain-hunting activities in selected heavyweights.

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 4.14 points to 1,601.27 from Tuesday’s close of 1,597.13.

The index, which opened 2.49 points firmer at 1,599.62, moved between 1,599.45 and 1,605.11 throughout the session.

Market breadth was positive as gainers surpassed losers 478 to 315, while 436 counters were unchanged, 1,024 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 2.30 billion units worth RM1.07 billion.

In a note earlier, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI was expected to trend within a tight range of between 1,590 and 1,600 today.

Meanwhile, Brent crude rebounded to US$105 per barrel as concerns over the supply side re-emerged.

The local bourse’s uptrend was in tandem with the regional markets.

Japan’s Nikkei Index rose 1.81 per cent to 26,810.68, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.16 per cent to 21,352.98, Singapore’s Straits Times Index firmed 0.64 per cent to 3,351.60, and South Korea’s Kospi bagged 1.48 per cent to 2,706.10.

Among the market heavyweights back home, Maybank rose one sen to RM8.83, Petronas Chemicals increased eight sen to RM10.34, IHH Healthcare jumped 10 sen to RM6.46, CIMB was two sen higher at RM5.35, and Public Bank was flat at RM4.67.

Of the actives, Vizione added half-a-sen to 11 sen, Vortex lost two sen to 17.5 sen, and ATA IMS dropped 4.5 sen to 48.5 sen, while both CSH Alliance and Yong Tai remained at 14 sen and 11.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index increased 39.64 points to 11,136.18, the FBM Emas Index was 42.41 points firmer at 11,486.08, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 56.63 points to 12,113.33, the FBM 70 improved 93.53 points to 13,831.83, and the FBM ACE ticked up 54.35 points to 5,859.46.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.09 points to 214.11, the Financial Services Index advanced 20.91 points to 16,739.88, and the Plantation Index gained 38.62 points to 8,513.96. — Bernama