KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 26): Bursa Malaysia ended today's morning session higher on continued buying in technology counters, bucking the downtrend seen in other markets in the region, a dealer said.

At the lunch break, the benchmark FBM KLCI had risen 8.07 points to 1,584.69 after moving between 1,583.90 and 1,609.19 throughout the session.

The index opened 13.97 points higher at 1,590.59, compared with yesterday’s close at 1,576.62.

On the broader market, gainers thumped losers 598 to 326, while 319 counters were unchanged, 611 untraded and 20 others suspended.

Volume stood at 2.49 billion units worth RM1.79 billion.

A dealer said most of the Asian shares fell today as investors considered the possibility that a US fiscal relief package might be delayed and mulled extended valuations in some markets.

However, he said, the local market gained support as health director-general (DG) Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah brushed off concerns over MCO 3.0 (a third movement control order) and the broader market could perform a relief rebound today.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank Bhd jumped 27 sen to RM4.53, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added seven sen to RM7.95, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) went up four sen to RM6.94 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) gained six sen to RM9.71, while Top Glove Corp Bhd declined 14 sen to RM6.38.

Of the actives, Fintec Global Bhd earned half a sen to eight sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) rose one sen to 31 sen, Key ASIC Bhd advanced two sen to 11 sen and Mlabs Systems Bhd added 1.5 sen to eight sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 66.08 points to 11,456.63 and the FBMT 100 Index rose 60.40 points to 11,195.64 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 41.64 points lower at 12,850.94.

The FBM 70 picked up 92.70 points to 14,716.92 and the FBM ACE increased 197.80 points to 10,868.05.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 307.77 points to 14,872.51, while the Plantation Index decreased 18.44 points to 7,166.02, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.37 of a point to 171.17.