KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Bursa Malaysia closed slightly higher today, with the key index climbing 0.18 per cent, supported by buying in utilities and telecommunications heavyweights, despite softer regional sentiment due to profit-taking and caution surrounding the United States-China trade deal.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.78 points to 1,526.62 from Wednesday’s close of 1,523.84.

The benchmark opened 3.87 points higher at 1,527.71 this morning, and subsequently moved between 1,523.22 to a high of 1,528.72 throughout the session.

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 500 to 379, while 530 counters were unchanged, 986 untraded and 17 suspended.

Turnover fell to 2.73 billion units worth RM2.07 billion compared with yesterday’s 3.27 billion units worth RM2.59 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI edged higher with buying in selective heavyweights such as utilities and telco stocks, while key regional indices finished mostly lower due to profit-taking following gains over the last few days.

"In addition, market sentiment was dampened by US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose new trade tariffs on major economies, while investors remained cautious, awaiting further details on the US-China trade deal,” he told Bernama.

Elaborating on the local market performance, Thong noted that the benchmark index remains in consolidation mode despite closing higher over the past two sessions, as it still needs to break above the 1,530 resistance level and sustain that level for a longer period.

"As such we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,520-1,530 range towards the weekend,” he added.

Among the heavyweight gainers were Maybank which rose seven sen to RM9.77, Petronas Gas added 38 sen to RM18.08, YTL Power was five sen better at RM3.70, MISC increased eight sen to RM7.78, and IHH Healthcare advanced four sen to RM6.90.

As for the most active stocks, MYEG lost half-a-sen to 96.5 sen, PDZ Holdings was flat at three sen, Jiankun inched up half-a-sen to three sen, Tanco slid two sen to 95.5 sen, and YTL Corporation was two sen better at RM2.20.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 7.18 points to 11,444.92, the FBMT 100 Index increased 10.72 points to 11,214.27, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 4.84 points to 11,397.51.

However, the FBM 70 Index slid 22.56 points to 16,502.66 and the FBM ACE Index shed 19.36 points to 4,524.69.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index ticked up 2.36 points to 726.13 and the Financial Services Index notched up 10.12 points to 17,789.28, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.12 of-a-point to 152.19 and the Plantation Index erased 20.08 points to 7,193.74.

The Main Market volume slipped to 1.21 billion units valued at RM1.82 billion from 1.41 billion units valued at RM2.32 billion registered at Wednesday’s close.

Warrants turnover narrowed to 1.31 billion units worth RM160 million from 1.61 billion units worth RM175.22 million previously.

The ACE Market volume declined to 211.79 million units valued at RM81.62 million from 255.08 million units valued at RM93.16 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 180.95 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (172.0 million), construction (99.67 million), technology (142.88 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (66.4 million), property (157.49 million), plantation (15.66 million), REITs (34.41 million), closed-end funds (92,400), energy (128.43 million), healthcare (58.59 million), telecommunications and media (47.68 million), transportation and logistics (55.01 million), utilities (53.33 million), and business trusts (17,100). — Bernama