KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI marched higher on Wednesday to close above the 1,600 psychological level amid persistent buying interest from foreign funds into heavyweights.

       At 5pm, the benchmark index closed 16.47 points, or 1.04% to 1,600.38, its highest since Aug 30.

       There were 577 gainers, 460 losers and 413 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 4.48 billion shares valued at RM3.33bil.

       Dealers expect the positive market sentiment would continue to push the key index higher over the near term as investors focus on the reopening economy.

       A dealer noted that Bursa Malaysia's construction and plantation indices saw substantial gains today. The construction index rose 2.66% to 172.86 and the plantation index added 1.34% to 7,098.07.

       According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors continued to buy into local stocks on Tuesday, acquiring RM148mil worth of equities.

       Local institutions sold RM177mil worth of equities while retailers acquired RM29mil.

       Carzo was the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, rising 45 sen to RM3.78, followed by Petronas Dagangan, which added 44 sen to RM20 and Hap Seng, which gained 29 sen to RM8.21.

       Genetec tumbled 64 sen to RM41.26, PMB Technology fell 18 sen to RM14.50 and Carlsberg lost 16 sen to RM22.46.

       Among the banks, Maybank rose six sen to RM8.29, Public Bank climbed three sen to RM4.19, CIMB added nine sen to RM5.20, RHB Bank advanced 17 sen to RM5.72 and Hong Leong Bank jumped 26 sen to RM18.82.

       Meanwhile, regional markets closed broadly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down a marginal 0.32% to 28,140.28 while South Korea’s Kospi delivered a 0.96% gain to settle at 2,944.41.

       China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4% to 3,561.76 points while CSI300 rose 1.2%, to 4,940.11 points.