KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): Bursa Malaysia rose by 1.31% and ended the morning trading session on a positive note, buoyed by persistent buying support in telco stocks, while the overall market was boosted by bargain-hunting activities.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI gained 19.28 points to 1,486.54 from Wednesday's closing of 1,467.26.

The benchmark index, which opened 3.11 points better at 1,470.37, moved between 1,470.37 and 1,488.54 throughout the session.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 491 to 250, while 328 counters were unchanged, 1,263 untraded and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.32 billion units worth RM841.22 million.

However, a dealer said that even though the local market has been aided by bargain-hunting activities, sentiments remained jittery as traders await US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's comments during the Jackson Hole event on Friday.

Meanwhile, advancers in the composite index were led by the Axiata Group Bhd, which added 13 sen to RM3.04, followed by Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), which gained 31 sen to RM5.96, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd rose 20 sen to RM8.61, and IHH Healthcare Bhd earned 12 sen to RM6.34.

As for the other heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) accumulated three sen to RM8.84, Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.62, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd improved one sen to RM8.51, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was three sen better at RM5.39.

Of the actives, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd lost one sen to 3.5 sen, TWL Holdings Bhd was flat at five sen, while its warrant erased half-a-sen to 1.5 sen. G3 Global Bhd was flat at three sen, and Berjaya Corporation Bhd reduced half-a-sen to 24 sen.

On the index board, the FBM ACE rose by 41.66 points to 4,916.63, the FBM 70 advanced 100.01 points to 12,701.01, the FBM Emas Index was 119.75 points higher at 10,570.1, the FBMT 100 Index added 121.45 points to 10,311.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 159.51 points to 10,663.33.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index added 25.1 points to 732.29, the Financial Services Index added 87.59 points to 16,638.54, the Plantation Index improved 87.83 points to 6,948.66, and the Industrial Products and Services Index accumulated 1.01 points to 180.9.