KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — Stocks on Bursa Malaysia ended slightly higher today on mild buying interest amid profit-taking ahead of the weekend, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.87 or 0.15 per cent to 1,876.74, after opening 2.8 points lower at 1,871.07. The benchmark index had hovered between 1,870.09 and 1,876.74.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outpaced losers 412 to 345, while 347 counters were unchanged, 522 untraded and 17 others suspended. Total volume decreased to 1.26 billion shares valued at RM1.39 billion from 1.18 billion shares worth RM1.45 billion yesterday.

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index dropped 3.391 points to 17,148.52, the Industrial Index rose 0.87 of a point to 3,192.05 and the Plantation Index declined 5.061 points to 9,232.84.

The FBM Emas Index was 16.439 points higher at 12,974.34, the FBMT100 Index gained 13.84 points to 12,614.53, the FBM Ace advanced 47.3 points to 6,636.05 and the FBM 70 dropped 6.26 points to 14,053.4.

Dealers said equities were higher despite the mixed regional market following the overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow fell 109.69 points to 16,734.19 and the S&P 500 dropped 13.78 points to 1,930.11 after US retail sales rose 0.3 per cent in May, less than analysts’ estimate of 0.6 per cent, as well as concerns over the tension in Iraq.

“Bursa Malaysia is quiet as investors turn their attention to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the long-awaited and biggest sporting event on earth which began today,” a dealer said.

However, HLIB Research holds the view that investors should look beyond the short-term volatility and take it as an opportunity to position for the FBM KLCI’s year-end target of 1,910 level.

Affin Investment Bank’s vice-president/head of retail research Dr Nazri Khan said seasonal trends during the World Cup would usually favour a weak finish to the month of June with profit-taking.

“Despite the lag, the FBM KLCI is holding up well at above the 1,860 support level due to high dividend appeal, resilient domestic liquidity and its lower vulnerability to foreign investor withdrawals,” he told Bernama.

BAT led gainers in improving 72 sen to RM65.00, TAHPS added 46 sen to RM10.36 and Metal Reclamation increased 30 sen to 84 sen.

The decliners included PPB, which fell 20 sen to RM15.30, IJM Corp sliding 17 sen to RM6.60 and DKSH slipping 15 sen to RM8.45.

Among actives, ETI Tech and iDimension fell half a sen each to seven sen and 15.5 sen respectively, while Sanichi Technology rose one sen to 8.5 sen.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank fell four sen to RM9.80, Public Bank slipped two sen to RM20.82 and Tenaga rose six sen to RM11.72.

Main Market volume fell to 986 million units valued at RM1.32 billion from 1.01 billion units worth RM1.41 billion yesterday.

Turnover on the ACE market rose to 232.1 million shares worth RM53.53 million from 136.04 million shares valued at RM36.02 million yesterday.

Warrants increased to 31.6 million shares valued at RM6.40 million from 26.35 million units worth RM3.36 million.

Consumer products accounted for 60.53 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products 153.68 million, construction 57 million, trade and services 376.1 million, technology 106.13 million, infrastructure 13.1 million, SPAC 39.2 million, finance 34.1 million, hotels 9.1 million, properties 124.68 million, plantations 9.57 million, mining 11,200, REITs 3.66 million and closed/fund 26,000. — Bernama