KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 ― Bursa Malaysia's barometer index finished the morning session higher led by heavyweights such as Maybank, CIMB and HLFG, but in the broader market, losers were still ahead of gainers.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 3.82 points to 1,604.11 from yesterday's close of 1,600.29.
The benchmark index, which opened 0.14 of-a-point higher, moved between 1,591.83 and 1,605.10 during the session.
The overall market breadth remained negative with losers outpacing gainers 531 to 418, while 431 counters were unchanged, 786 untraded and seven others suspended.
Total volume stood at 4.45 billion shares worth RM2.16 billion.
Most of the heavyweights also regained some traction with only seven counters in the red, as investors piled into recently beaten-down counters including financial, energy, plantation, telecommunication and construction.
An analyst said the regional markets were also mixed amid negative cues from Wall Street.
Japan's Nikkei dropped more than two per cent to 29,057.13, the Hang Seng Index was flat at 29,105.73 and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.29 per cent to 3,487.60.
Meanwhile, oil prices recovered amid a weaker US dollar.
On the local front, Maybank increased five sen to RM8.33, CIMB was four sen higher at RM4.28 and HLFG added 20 sen to RM16.96. Axiata expanded 12 sen to RM3.91, Genting inched up 16 sen to RM4.92 and MISC was 13 sen better at RM6.81.
Among the active counters, Censof went up nine sen to 52.5 sen, Key Asic inched up 1.5 sen to 19 sen and Sedania lost 9.5 sen to 30.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 22.58 points to 11,809.78, the FBMT 100 increased 23.73 points to 11,468.81, and the FBM 70 improved 18.65 points to 15,605.74.
The FBM Emas Shariah edged up 1.24 points to 13,212.17 while the FBM ACE was 43.88 points higher at to 8,614.06.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index rose by 0.80 of-a-point to 6,867.03, the Financial Services Index gained 62.62 points to 15,090.12, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.93 of-a-point weaker at 195.271. ― Bernama
