KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 ― Continuous support for heavyweights saw Bursa Malaysia higher at midmorning despite the caution in overseas markets ahead of US consumer inflation figures, which are set to provide clues on the outlook of US Federal Reserve interest rates.

At 11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 6.15 points to 1,451.33, led by Petronas Chemicals, Press Metal and Sime Darby Plantation.

The index opened 0.28 of-a-point easier at 1,444.90 from Friday’s closing of 1,445.18

On the broader market, gainers trumped decliners 404 to 336, while 389 counters were unchanged, 1,250 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.41 billion units valued at RM588.06 million.

Heavyweights Petronas Chemicals was up nine sen to RM7.28, while Press Metal and Sime Darby Plantation rose five sen to RM4.89 and RM4.38, respectively.

Public Bank was two sen higher at RM4.18, and Maybank went up three sen to RM9.11.

Of the actives, Hong Seng added half-a-sen sen to 5.0 sen, Sin Heng Chan jumped 12 sen to 44 sen, while Asdion and Tanco decreased half-a-sen to 6.5 sen and 57.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 40.34 points higher at 10,731.81, the FBMT 100 Index went up 40.27 points to 10,393.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 44.60 points to 10,941.77 and the FBM 70 Index was 38.80 points higher at 14,200.73, while the FBM ACE Index rose 9.81 points to 5,142.46.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased by 40.58 points to 16,336.65, the Plantation Index was up by 33.66 points to 6,955.95, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 0.86 of-a-point to 173.26, and the Energy Index was 2.46 points firmer to 861.80. ― Bernama