KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 ― Energy and plantation-related counters continued to lead the uptrend on Bursa Malaysia at mid-day as oil prices hovered close to a three-week high.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) garnered 8.04 points to 1,546.65 compared to yesterday's close of 1,538.61.

The benchmark index opened 0.11 of-a-point higher at 1,538.72.

Nevertheless, the market breadth continued to be tilted in favour of losers, with decliners outpacing advancers 467 to 406, while 449 counters were unchanged, 976 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.05 billion units worth RM1.19 billion.

It was reported oil prices hovered close to three-week highs on Tuesday on heightened Middle East tensions and recovering China demand.

At home, crude palm oil prices also continued to trade above RM3,800 per tonne level, thus attracting demand for plantation-related stocks.

On top of that, interest is also centered on fundamentally solid companies as the earnings season is set to pick up soon, a dealer said.

Heavyweights gained traction with 22 counters in positive territory led by Petronas Chemicals, which rose 13 sen to RM6.97.

Sime Darby added eight sen to RM2.59, YTL Power gained 12 sen to RM3.92, Sime Darby Plantation increased six sen to RM4.56 and IOI Corp rose seven sen to RM4.05.

As for the actives, Dialog soared 26 sen to RM2.12, while TWL was flat at 3.5 sen.

Hong Seng and Fitters Diversified added half-a-sen to 2.5 sen and 5.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 63.78 points to 11,484.43, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 66.10 points to 11,134.47, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 78.24 points to 11,556.22, and the FBM 70 Index edged up 125.68 points to 15,457.73.

However, the FBM ACE Index slid 17.69 points to 4,847.61.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 37.73 points to 17,289.39, the Plantation Index lifted 68.29 points to 7,367.03, the Energy Index was 33.02 points higher at 929.08, and the Industrial Products and Services Index perked 1.10 points to 176.71. ― Bernama