KUALA LUMPUR: Plantations were among the gainers in late morning trade on Wednesday, March 10, underpinned by the bullish outlook for crude palm oil futures and also the firmer overnight close on Wall Street.

At 10.45am, the FBM KLCI was up 10.94 points to 1,328.88. Turnover was 324 million shares done valued at RM383.7 million.

The third-month CPO futures rose RM30 to RM2,665 per tonne. Prominent industry analyst Dorab Mistry expects crude palm oil (CPO) futures to trade between RM2,600 and RM2,800 per tonne for the period from March to July 2010 and even more bullishly in the second half of the year.

KL Kepong rose 38 sen to RM17.02, PPB added 32 sen to RM17.02, Batu Kawan 22 sen to RM10.50 while Glenealy rose 18 sen to RM4.60.

BAT was the top gainer, adding 44 sen to RM43.98 in thin trade.

KESM rose 21 sen to RM2.18 after its 2Q net profit for the period ended Jan 31, surged by 283% year-on-year to RM2.6 million from RM678,000. Revenue rose to RM55.9 million from RM39.3 million.

KESM said the improvement was due to higher demand for testing and electronic manufacturing services. There was also improvement in its subsidiary in Tianjin, China which has started contributing positively to the group, it added.