KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended the morning trading session marginally higher amidst mixed performances in the regional markets and cautious trading sentiment, a dealer said.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI rose by 1.79 points to 1,491.59 from Monday’s close of 1,489.80.

The benchmark index opened 2.78 points firmer at 1,492.58 and moved between 1,490.20 and 1,497.00 during the session.

However, on the broader market, losers edged past gainers 347 to 343, while 383 counters were unchanged, 1,201 untraded and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.10 billion units worth RM603.34 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd believes that investors may continue to avoid technology stocks amid ongoing concerns about interest rate hikes ahead of the release of the United States Consumer Price Index data next week.

"Investors may turn their focus to the energy sector in anticipation of a tighter oil market moving forward, following the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision to cut production,” it said.

Meanwhile, the brokerage said it remained positive on the banking sector ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s interest rate decision.

At noon, Bursa heavyweights Petronas Chemicals and MISC added nine sen to RM8.91 and RM7.10, respectively, Maybank rose four sen to RM8.98, Maxis gained five sen to RM3.74 and Press Metal Aluminium increased three sen to RM4.75.

Of the actives, Metronic increased half-a-sen to eight sen, while Jade Marvel shed 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen, South Malaysia Industries lost 5.5 sen to 20 sen, and Sanichi Technology and Ta Win were unchanged at 2.5 sen and seven sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 22.67 points to 10,576.44, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 24.72 points to 10,620.66, the FBM 70 was 65.97 points better at 12,656.46, the FBMT 100 Index improved 22.06 points to 10,330.09 and the FBM ACE grew 9.79 points to 4,769.94.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index rose by 7.37 points to 708.10, the Financial Services Index advanced 20.40 points to 16,791.22, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.15 points higher at 182.42, and the Plantation Index went up 7.23 points to 7,008.81. — Bernama