Bursa Malaysia Crosses 1,500 On Bargain Hunting 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia extended its gains, crossing the 1,500 level by midmorning, driven by bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, particularly in financial services, plantations, and healthcare.  

At 11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 20.63 points to 1,505.46 from yesterday’s close of 1,484.83. 

The benchmark index opened 3.96 points higher at 1,488.79.  

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Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 602 to 210, while 348 stocks were unchanged, 1,230 untraded, and 13 suspended. 

Turnover stood at 1.40 billion shares worth RM970.31 million.  

Among heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM10.22, Public Bank gained seven sen to RM4.40, Tenaga Nasional climbed 34 sen to RM13.34, and CIMB rose 21 sen to RM7.21. CelcomDigi slipped one sen to RM3.56.  

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In active stocks, Ta Win and Sapura Energy added half-a-sen each to 3.5 sen and 4.5 sen respectively, MYEG advanced 2.5 sen to 93 sen, while NEXG and Kinergy were unchanged at 25.5 sen and 32 sen. Saliran fell four sen to 23 sen.  

On the broader market, the FBM 70 Index surged 310.77 points to 15,975.10, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 173.27 points to 10,907.77, the FBM Emas Index climbed 173.16 points to 11,224.38, the FBMT 100 Index rose 167.67 points to 11,003.94, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 107.30 points to 4,506.27.  

By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 213.08 points to 18,413.86, the Plantation Index edged up 26.39 points to 7,320.43, the Industrial Products and Services Index firmed 3.60 points to 152.55, and the Energy Index increased 12.73 points to 697.05.  

-- BERNAMA