KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 6): Bursa Malaysia ended Tuesday's morning session mixed from a lack of fresh catalysts to bolster the market.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.65 of-a-point to 1,511.99 from Monday's close of 1,511.34.

The barometer index opened 1.03 points easier at 1,510.31 and subsequently moved between 1,508.99 and 1,513.98 throughout the session.

The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 435 to 387, while 398 counters were unchanged, 1,029 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.75 billion units worth RM919.78 million

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the buying on local stocks to continue given the attractive valuations and persistent support from foreign funds.

"As such, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the range of 1,510-1,520 today," he added.

Meanwhile, among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional Bhd increased four sen to RM10.78, IHH Healthcare Bhd rose four sen to RM6.18, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd advanced by five sen to RM6.73 while Malayan Banking Bhd eased one sen to RM9.31 and Public Bank Bhd declined one sen to RM4.40.

As for the actives, Wentel Engineering Holdings Bhd rose two sen to 28 sen, Velesto Energy Bhd gained half-a-sen to 25.5 sen, Revenue Group Bhd added one sen to 20.5 sen, Widad Group Bhd slid one sen to 11.5 sen and Reneuco Bhd dipped one sen to 8.5 sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 12.74 points easier at 11,225.96 and the FBMT 100 Index jumped 10.04 points to 10,893.21.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 25.62 points to 11,262.21, the FBM ACE Index went up 6.65 points to 4,710.04 and the FBM 70 Index added 36.17 points to 15,156.87.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index expanded 14.78 points to 7,170.99, and the Financial Services Index lost 14.42 points to 16,965.82.

The Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.42 of-a-point to 172.25, the Property Index went up 1.44 points to 903.4 and the Energy Index was 4.68 points higher at 874.35.