KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 ― Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-day on bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, led by the financial services counters.

Maybank rose six sen to RM8.94, CIMB added four sen to RM5.37, Hong Leong Bank was four sen higher at RM20.20 and Hong Leong Financial gained two sen to RM19.60 ― altogether, these counters contributed 2.17 points to the composite index.

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 4.13 points to 1,587.35 from 1,583.22 at yesterday’s close.

The barometer index opened 1.95 points higher at 1,585.17, and moved between 1,580.55 and 1,589.06 during the morning trading session.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 414 to 354, while 411 counters were unchanged, 1,097 untraded and 73 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 1.50 billion units worth RM895.64 million.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the local bourse is expected to trade in an uptrend mode as investors focus on the reopening of borders in April and the declining Covid-19 cases, which could lead to potential trading opportunities within the recovery themed stocks.

As for the commodities market, it said crude oil price has rebounded to above US$110 (RM462.50) per barrel-mark, while crude palm oil (CPO) traded below RM6,000.

Meanwhile, the energy sector should see some rebound, in tandem with the elevated crude oil price.

“Traders may also pay attention to the aviation, tourism and consumer sectors as Malaysia will reopen the travel borders tomorrow,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals improved four sen to RM9.60, IHH Healthcare was up by nine sen to RM6.25, Public Bank was flat at RM4.65, while Tenaga lost one sen to RM9.02 and Press Metal dropped two sen to RM6.20.

Of the actives, Metronic inched up one sen to 2.5 sen and both SMTrack and Widad rose half-a-sen to eight sen and 36.5 sen, respectively, while Capital A slipped 1.5 sen to 73.5 sen and Malakoff lost one sen to 59.5 sen.

On the index board, FBM 70 rose by 89.97 points to 13,828.90, FBM Emas Index was 42.69 points higher at 11,380.10, FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 36.10 points to 11,935.38, FBMT 100 Index accumulated 38.94 points to 11,061.44, while FBM ACE narrowed 47.18 points to 5,554.29.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.78 of-a-point to 204.78, the Plantation Index widened 7.14 points to 7,968.61 and the Financial Services Index gained 76.24 points to 16,770.88. ― Bernama