Malaysian shares finished higher for the third day running on Tuesday in slow pre-holiday trade, as speculative stocks like Malaysia Aica continued to rise.
The key Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 0.70 percent to 824.66 points. Overall volume was 554 million shares, 15 percent higher than Monday's level.
Gainers beat losers five to one. The stock market will be closed for the rest of the week for Lunar New Year holidays.
"The market was quite bullish today but the question is can this be sustained?" said a local fund manager.
Wood products maker Aica surged 30 percent to 3.04 ringgit, extending its rally after a 68 percent gain last week on news that the firm was buying Hyrax Sdn Bhd from investors such as Kamaludin Abdullah, son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and fast-rising businessman Azman Yahya.
Aica's rise sparked interest in its sister firm FCW Holdings Bhd, which was actively traded and gained 5.1 percent to 72.5 cents.
Both FCW and Aica are controlled by low-profile businessman Robert Tan.
Among Kuala Lumpur's heavyweights, fixed-line operator Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Public Bank Bhd led the key index higher.
Telekom was up 1.1 percent to 9.55 ringgit while Public Bank rose 1.8 percent to 2.82 ringgit. Gains in these two stocks made up more than a fifth of the key index rise.
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