KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Stocks on Bursa Malaysia rebounded to end slightly higher today amid the weaker sentiment on most regional markets, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 1.98 points to 1,876.58, after hovering between 1,872.09 and 1,876.59 throughout the day.

A dealer said regional markets edged lower today as investors weighed in on the risks in the US Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.

The Fed is widely expected to axe another US$10 billion (RM32.3 billion) from its monthly bond purchases at a meeting yesterday and Wednesday, but may make a few, if any, concrete policy moves. On the scoreboard, the Industrial Index gained 14.23 points to 3,229.62, the Finance Index improved 42.08 points to 17,220.58 and the Plantation Index rose 34.41 points to 9,194.79.

The FBM Emas Index was 23.52 points higher at 12,994.78, the FBMT100 Index advanced 22.73 points to 12,629.18, the FBM 70 climbed 62.33 points to 14,131.72 and the FBM Ace jumped 55.13 points to 6,752.23.

Advancers led decliners 468 to 350, while 324 counters were unchanged, 487 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Total volume increased to 2.04 billion shares worth RM1.87 billion from the 1.63 billion shares valued at RM1.82 billion transacted yesterday.

Among active stocks, MAS gained three sen to 25 sen, 1Utopia eased half a sen to 5.5 sen, while Luster Industries and iDimension Consolidated were flat at 11 sen and 13.5 sen respectively.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.82, CIMB increased six sen to RM7.22, Public Bank advanced two sen to RM20.92 and TNB gained 16 sen for RM11.88.

Main Market volume improved to 1.6 billion units worth RM1.78 billion from 1.33 billion units valued at RM1.74 billion yesterday.

Turnover on the ACE market advanced to 334.66 million shares valued at RM71.72 million from yesterday’s 242.29 million shares worth RM66.16 million.

Warrants decreased to 33.82 million units worth RM4.86 million from 35.94 million shares valued at RM6.98 million.

Consumer products accounted for 133.95 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products 305.26 million, construction 46.94 million, trade and services 822.2 million, technology 74.68 million, infrastructure 26.72 million, SPAC 43.48 million, finance 45.74 million, hotels 2.35 million, properties 88.02 million, plantations 9.11 million, mining 21,100, REITs 4.15 million and closed/fund 3,300. — Bernama