BURSA MALAYSIA REMAINS POSITIVE AT MIDDAY

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia continued its positive performance at midday, supported by buying interest in industrial products and services as well as financial services counters, tracking the upbeat performance of most regional peers.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 12.62 points to 1,528.18 from yesterday’s close of 1,515.56.

The index had opened 2.51 points higher at 1,518.07, and moved between 1,518.07 and 1,529.03 during the morning trading session.

On the broader market, market breadth was positive with 424 gainers outpacing 338 decliners, while 448 counters were unchanged, 1,209 untraded, and 96 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.41 billion shares worth RM833.49 million.

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals gained 11 sen to RM3.58, Press Metal Aluminium and CIMB added eight sen to RM4.87 and RM7.10, respectively, Petronas Gas rose 30 sen to RM17.12 and Public Bank increased three sen to RM4.45.

As for the actives, Velesto rose by half a sen to 15.5 sen, Chemlite Innovation recouped two sen to 25 sen and WTEC Group improved one sen to 24.5 sen, while Kinergy Advancement was flat at 32.5 sen and Tanco Holdings was down one sen to 87 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 79.85 points to 11,354.26, the FBMT 100 Index increased 83.39 points to 11,128.35, the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 81.47 points to 11,199.21 and the FBM 70 Index garnered 85.81 points to 15,990.80, while the FBM ACE Index eased 1.67 points to 4,616.43.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index soared 112.02 points to 18,212.13, the Industrial Products and Services Index firmed 1.36 points to 150.28, the Energy Index gained 9.40 points to 687.36, and the Plantation Index put on 36.87 points to 7,199.22.

-- BERNAMA