BURSA Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher as softening crude oil price eased inflationary concerns on the global front, a dealer said.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved by 2.25 points to 1,496.98 from yesterday’s close of 1,494.73.

The benchmark index opened 1.02 points firmer at 1,495.75 and moved between 1,493.15 and 1,497.81 during the session.

On the broader market, gainers inched past losers 350 to 347, while 340 counters were unchanged, 1,268 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.08 billion units worth RM670.4 million.

Although inflation concerns have eased, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the mounting economic risk in China may pose some threat to the global markets.

“We believe that the energy and plantation sectors should remain under pressure in the near term, while investors are likely to focus on consumer and banking sectors,” it said in a note today, adding that technology stocks may gain traction, given Nasdaq’s positive performance overnight.

At lunch break, Bursa heavyweights CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Public Bank Bhd added four sen to RM5.44 and RM4.68 respectively, and Maxis Bhd gained one sen to RM3.83, while Press Metal Bhd shed two sen to RM5 and Axiata Group Bhd was unchanged at RM2.92.

Of the actives, Metronic Global Bhd was flat at 4.5 sen, while Tanco Holdings Bhd improved 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen, Cnergenz Bhd garnered 5.5 sen to 96.5 sen, Mi Technovation Bhd increased 19 sen to RM1.32 and SFP Tech Holdings Bhd rose 13 sen to RM1.51.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged up 14.97 points to 10,628.87, the FBM T100 Index ticked up 13.03 points to 10,376.70, the FBM 70 was 5.74 points better at 12,750.84 and the FBM ACE expanded 9.44 points to 4,811.54, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index inched down by 8.08 points to 10,696.29.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index rose by 3.11 points to 709.61, the Financial Services Index gained 74.09 points to 16,809.14, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.16 of-a-point firmer at 185.49 and the Technology Index added 0.39 of-a-point to 63.43, while the Plantation Index slid 11.39 points to 7,011.81. — Bernama / TMRpic