KL shares higher on buying support

Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trade firmer today prompted by
continued buying support in selected blue-chips and finance counters,
dealers said.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.11 points to 1,622.42.
It moved between 1,620.95 and 1,625.04 throughout the morning session.

Dealers said amid the better performance on the local bourse along with
Asian markets, investors were, however, still cautious on the global
economic growth after China announced weak import data.

"The
data will signal a softening in consumer demand in the world's second
biggest economy, raising fears about deteriorating global economic
conditions," a dealer said.


The Finance Index gained 28.37 points to 14,536.97,
Plantation Index surged 62.689 points to 8,799.93 and the Industrial
Index rose 2.47 points to 2,859.53.

The FBM Emas increased 20.03 points to 11,110.94, FBM Ace Index rose
27.44 points to 4,414.69 and the FBM 70 Index gained 46.439 points to
12,268.77.

Gainers led losers by 325 to 313 while 316 counters were unchanged, 617 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 567.246 million shares worth RM552.832 million.

Among the actives, Metronic Global and Luster Industries eased half sen
each to eight sen and 9.5 sen, respectively and Ariantec Global fell a
sen to 8.5 sen while AT Systemization was flat at 22 sen.

Among
the heavyweights, Maybank surged four sen to RM8.74, Sime Darby fell a
sen to RM9.92, CIMB added three sen to RM7.77 and Petronas Chemicals
fell three sen to RM6.53. -- BERNAMA