However, on the broader market, losers thumped gainers 531 to 300, while 397 counters were unchanged, 1,068 not traded, and 26 others suspended.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 3.42 points to its intraday high of 1,469.22, from last Friday’s close of 1,465.80.

The index, which opened 2.02 points easier at 1,463.78, hit a low of 1,461.28 during the mid-morning session before gaining momentum from the mid-afternoon session towards the end of trading.

Total turnover declined to 2.01 billion units worth RM1.12 billion from 2.05 billion units worth RM1.55 billion last Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed marginally higher due to late buying after a roller-coaster session amid mixed sentiment in regional markets.

“Regionally, key indices trended mostly lower following heavy selling on Wall Street last Friday. Investors are cautiously awaiting this week’s policy decision from the US Federal Reserve,” he told Bernama.

Thong said sentiments are improving in the local bourse, thanks to the continuous buying support from foreign funds. “We expect the buying to continue after the FBM KLCI has broken the 1,460 resistance level, while at present valuation, the benchmark index remains attractive compared to its regional peers,” he added.

“As such, we anticipate the index to move within the 1,460 to 1,485 range for the week with immediate resistance at 1,500 and support at 1,430,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank added five sen to RM4.62, Hong Leong Bank gained 18 sen to RM20.58, Petronas Chemicals edged up four sen to RM8.64, while Maybank fell a sen to RM8.80, and IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM6.45.

Of the most active stocks, Dolphin International slid 1.5 sen to three sen, MyEG went down three sen to 74 sen, Metronic Global added half-a-sen to nine sen, while both Top Glove and Borneo Oil were flat at 99.5 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively.