KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 ― Bursa Malaysia remained firm at mid-morning, supported by buying interest mainly in the telecommunications, finance and utilities counters.

At 11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ticked up 3.06 points to 1,438.39 from yesterday's closing of 1,435.33.

The benchmark index opened 0.61 points higher at 1,435.94.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 422 to 241, while 373 counters were unchanged, 1,314 untraded and 14 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.38 billion units worth RM629.93 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that the positive trading tone on Wall Street is expected to spill over towards the local front.

"However, we expect softer trading activities ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Meeting (MPC) meeting,” it said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, CelcomDigi increased six sen to RM4.26, Public Bank and Tenaga added two sen each to RM4.17 and RM9.87, respectively, Petronas Gas rose six sen to RM17.14, and Axiata was five sen higher at RM2.23.

Of the actives, SMTrack gained one sen to four sen and Ranhill Utilities grew six sen to 79.5 sen, while MQ Technology and CSH Alliance inched up half-a-sen each to three sen and five sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 33.35 points to 10,614.56, the FBMT 100 Index was up 31.64 points to 10,290.07 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 33.03 points to 10,797.74.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 85.63 points to 14,010.35 and the FBM ACE Index chalked up 42.12 points to 5,040.64.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.19 of-a-point to 169.82, while the Plantation Index gained 14.66 points to 6,900.72, the Energy Index increased by 8.74 points to 866.39 and the Financial Services Index was 30.63 points higher at 16,232.37. ― Bernama