KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, lifted by the selective buying of heavyweight stocks, led by the construction sector.

At the lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up by 2.19 points to 1,418.03 from Wednesday’s closing of 1,415.84.

The barometer index, which opened 2.40 points lower at 1,413.44, moved between 1,412.17 and 1,420.61 during the session.

The market breadth was positive with gainers trumping decliners 422 to 350, while 392 counters were unchanged, 1,124 untraded and 15 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.90 billion units worth RM1.27 billion.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.61 per cent to 31,019.45, Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.75 per cent to 3,171.05 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.77 per cent to 2,224.25.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street staged a relief rebound overnight after days of decline following lower-than-expected private payroll data for September, notwithstanding that the US 10-year Treasury yield remained elevated at 4.74 per cent.

“Thus, we expect the FBM KLCI index to hover within the 1,415 to 1,425 range today,“ he told Bernama.

He said energy stocks may face some road bumps today following the slump in crude oil price that saw Brent tumble to below US$86 per barrel from US$91 per barrel overnight, attributed to the expectation of weakening demand amid the high interest rate environment.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Tenaga Nasional and CIMB climbed two sen to RM8.75, RM9.98 and RM5.42, respectively, while Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.04. Petronas Chemicals was unchanged at RM7.10.

Of the actives, KNM rose half-a-sen to 17 sen, Boustead Plantations rallied 11 sen to RM1.38 and Sarawak Consolidated gained two sen to 49.5 sen. Ekovest firmed up 1.5 sen to 55 sen while MQ Technology eased half-a-sen to 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 16.93 points to 10,510.77 and the FBMT 100 Index improved by 15.06 points to 10,179.82. The FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 26.18 points to 10,808.27, the FBM ACE Index added 4.32 points to 5,124.74 and the FBM 70 Index climbed 18.02 points to 14,014.72.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index accumulated 26.71 points to 15,848.84, the Industrial Products Services Index was 0.03 of a point higher at 170.14 and the Plantation Index gained 19.77 points to 6,845.60.

The Energy Index slipped 6.0 points to 852.05. – Bernama