KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 ― The uptrend on Bursa Malaysia continued at midday, with the benchmark index ending the morning trading session above the 1,500-psychological level amidst positive market sentiments across the region.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.03 points to 1,501.36 from 1,492.33 at yesterday's close.

The benchmark index, which opened 5.48 points better at 1,497.81, remained in positive territory throughout the session, moving between 1,497.81 and 1,504.38.

Market breadth was bullish with gainers surpassing losers 517 to 234, while 350 counters were unchanged, 1,182 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.46 billion units worth RM934.13 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the positive sentiment from the Wall Street, which rallied after the United States (US) inflation data came in below the consensus figure, might spill over to the local front, especially in the technology sector.

“Investors should expect a lower scale of interest rate hikes moving forward from the US Federal Reserves, which provides a decent window of opportunity to at least trade until the next Consumer Price Index (CPI) data announcement scheduled on September 13,” the brokerage said in a note today.

The US’ CPI data, which measures inflation, came in at 8.5 per cent in July ― below the market’s forecast of 8.7 per cent ― suggesting that the country’s economy is recovering faster than expected.

Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Maybank ticked up four sen to RM8.94. Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.65, Petronas Chemicals and CIMB rose seven sen each to RM8.79 and RM5.37, respectively, while IHH Healthcare bagged five sen to RM6.47.

Of the actives, G3 Global, Fintec and Metronic were flat at 3.5 sen, 1.0 sen and 5.5 sen, respectively, SFP increased 12 sen to RM1.06 and Sapura Energy inched up half-a-sen to 5.5 sen. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 84.5 points higher at 10,645.24, the FBMT 100 Index soared 80.97 points to 10,395.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 87.39 points to 10,756.68, the FBM 70 jumped 173.52 points to 12,725.62 and the FBM ACE garnered 84.48 points to 4,916.11.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 129.73 points to 16,779.34, the Energy Index picked up 7.75 points to 654.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.97 points to 182.92 and the Plantation Index perked 7.25 points to 7,131.12. ― Bernama