KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): Bursa Malaysia turned mixed at the midday break on Thursday with the key index ending the morning session in positive territory, in tandem with regional markets, said a dealer. 

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.9 points, or 0.25% to 1,544.32 from Wednesday's close of 1,540.42. The benchmark index opened 0.58 of a point easier to 1,539.84.

However, the market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 510 to 376 while 446 counters were unchanged, 1,032 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.3 billion units worth RM1.19 billion. 

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that the KLCI rebounded from a four-day decline on Wednesday as bargain-hunting activities emerged. 

"Despite the better sentiment on the local front, the upside could be capped following the selldown in the United States [overnight]. We expect investors to shift their focus back to defensive-related sectors such as consumer, utilities, and real estate investment trusts [REITs]," it said in a note.

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank Bhd added six sen to RM9.66, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained seven sen to RM6.60 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd added 12 sen to RM11.64. Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd edged up two sen to RM6.85 and Public Bank Bhd eased a sen to RM4.14. 

As for the actives, Borneo Oil Bhd and Ignenieur Gudang Bhd inched down by half a sen to half a sen and 14 sen, respectively, while Eversendai Corp Bhd gained 1.5 sen to 39 sen. Fitters Diversified Bhd and Avillion Bhd were flat at five sen and 4.5 sen, respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index grew 22.25 points to 11,599.69, the FBM 70 Index climbed 7.76 points to 16,121.88 and the FBMT 100 Index jumped 22.47 points to 11,241.86. The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 14.5 points better at 11,771.81 and the FBM ACE Index shed 18.31 points to 4,907.06. 

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index picked up 0.56 of a point to 183.87 and the Financial Services Index expanded 22.16 points to 17,129.65.

The Energy Index slipped 8.53 points to 950.64 and the Plantation Index dropped 3.3 points to 7,354.58.