KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, buoyed by continued buying interest in selected heavyweights. 

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 13.11 points to 1,594.25 after moving between 1,584.87 and 1,596.14 throughout the session.

The index opened 4.68 points firmer at 1,585.82 from Monday’s close of 1,581.14.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 510 to 332, while 390 counters were unchanged, 1,039 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 1.87 billion units worth RM1.18 billion.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that investors may focus on the construction and building material sectors, while the plantation stocks may continue to head higher on the back of firm crude palm oil futures prices.

“For the technology sector, we expect some bargain hunting to emerge due to the rebound on Wall Street overnight,” the brokerage said.

Among the market heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd added six sen to RM8.81, Public Bank Bhd rose one sen to RM4.64, IHH Healthcare Bhd gained 14 sen to RM6.54, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd stayed flat at RM10.40, and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd lost seven sen to RM6.47.

Of the actives, MNC Wireless Bhd, Widad Group Bhd and Techna-X Bhd were flat at 3.5 sen, 36.5 sen and 10.5 sen, respectively, while Permaju Bhd inched up half-a-sen to 9.5 sen and Pappajack Bhd fell two sen to 52 sen.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index increased 97.65 points to 11,102.77, the FBM Emas Index was 97.41 points firmer at 11,454.32, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 121.38 points to 12,135.57, the FBM 70 climbed 147.63 points to 13,853.06, and the FBM ACE ticked up 65.83 points to 5,785.31.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 97.07 points to 16,587.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.32 of-a-point to 215.16, and the Plantation Index added 204.35 points to 8,567.71.