BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MORNING SESSION HIGHER

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher, boosted by buying momentum in index-linked companies.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 7.04 points to 1,626.10 from Friday's close of 1,619.06.

The index opened 0.80 of-a-point higher at 1,619.86 and fluctuated between 1,619.19 and 1,625.63 during the morning session.

In the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners with 564 stocks advancing compared to 402 declining stocks.

Meanwhile, 454 counters remained unchanged, 1,046 were untraded and 24 were suspended. 

Total turnover amounted to 2.96 billion units valued at RM1.72 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key index faces significant resistance near the 1,630 level.

"Although we remain optimistic about the outlook, we believe the key index may need to decisively break this resistance soon to sustain its uptrend and avoid entering a prolonged consolidation phase," he said in a note today.

Among the top gainers on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank, TNB and CIMB each rose 2.0 sen to RM10.06, RM14.48 and RM7.15, respectively. IHH Healthcare added one sen to RM6.34, Press Metal surged 10 sen to RM6.05, while Public Bank held steady at RM4.11 and Petronas Chemicals slipped three sen to RM6.08.

Active counters included Ekovest, which increased two sen to 52.5 sen, JAKS edged up half-a-sen to 17.5 sen, Jati Tinggi advanced six sen to 72.5 sen, Aimflex remained unchanged at 20.5 sen, Velesto eased one sen to 24.5 sen and WCT declined one sen to RM1.13.

On the index front, the FBM Emas Index appreciated 73.41 points to 12,614.11, the FBMT 100 Index went up 71.81 points to 12,182.43, the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded by 99.58 points to 13,014.78, the FBM 70 Index soared 180.45 94.35 points to 18,853.64, and the FBM ACE Index gained 36.14 points to 6,017.35. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bagged 54.24 points to 17,854.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.06 points to 202.02, the Plantation Index was 41.04 points higher at 6,984.75 and the Energy Index eased 7.79 points to 976.73.

-- BERNAMA