Malaysian shares finished mostly lower on Monday, resuming last week's fall as investors locked in their gains after announcement of a new cabinet at the weekend and central bank's economic forecast.
But last-minute buying in market heavyweights like Maybank, Tenaga and Telekom helped push the key index into positive territory by the close. "All the good news were out and most people decided to take profit," said one dealer.
The benchmark 100-stock Composite Index ended up 0.50 percent at 899.58 points, after hitting a low of 886.89.
Overall volume was a light 445 million shares, with decliners beating gainers 651 to 206.
The key index lost one percent last week as investors booked their profits after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's big win in March 21 general election.
After the market had closed on Friday, the central Bank Negara raised its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2004 to 6.0-6.5 percent from 5.5-6.0 percent previously.
Dealers said the news had been factored in by the market.
Abdullah, who has pledged to continue his anti-corruption campaign, on Saturday announced his cabinet line-up, retaining some of veteran ministers.
He kept the finance portfolio for himself and retained ex-central banker Nor Mohamed Yakcop as Second Finance Minister.
Top lender Maybank, power utility Tenaga and phone firm Telekom - the market's three largest stocks - rose between 1.8 and three percent, adding over five points to the main index.
Top investment bank CIMB closed 0.8 percent up at 6.30 ringgit after rising as much as 2.4 percent.
The bank said late on Friday it will return 350 million ringgit in cash to shareholders after a bond sale, a move intended to improve its return on equity.
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