At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 2.69 points to 1,485.26 from yesterday’s closing of 1,482.57.

The benchmark index opened 1.53 points easier at 1,484.10.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 160 to 114, while 199 counters were unchanged, 1,859 not traded and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 181.58 million units worth RM74.35 million.

Rakuten Trade vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said mild buying of local equities surfaced during the afternoon session yesterday, with the FBM KLCI staying above the 1,480 level.

“For today, we reckon the buying would continue in technology and energy-related stocks as Brent crude surged above US$100 per barrel again on news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may cut production.

“Therefore, we expect the index to possibly hover within the 1,480 to 1,500 range today,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, heavyweights Maybank gained a sen to RM8.84, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional advanced two sen each to RM4.62 and RM8.60, respectively, and CIMB Group rose six sen to RM5.34, while Petronas Chemicals was down 21 sen to RM8.35 and IHH Healthcare lost three sen to RM6.31.

Of the actives, Euro Holdings advanced a sen to 14 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum was two sen better at 99.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik lost 2.5 sen to 5.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM emas index rose 13.41 points to 10,546.37, the FBMT 100 index gained 14.95 points to 10,292.48, the FBM 70 added 3.52 points to 12,635.39 and the FBM ACE went up 3.15 points to 4,894.95, while the FBM emas shariah index declined 0.60 of-a-point to 10,648.02.

Sector-wise, the financial services index advanced 45.52 points to 16,584.12 and the energy index increased 18.29 points to 731.17, while the plantation index was 46.01 points lower at 7,105.86 and the industrial products and services index lost 1.01 points to 179.41.