Malaysian shares down

Malaysian share prices closed slightly lower Wednesday in thin trade as investors continued to stay on the sidelines ahead of a long holiday break, dealers said. They said sentiment on the local bourse was expected to improve next month following the long holidays.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed down 1.34 points, or 0.14 percent at 975.89 and trading volume was 567.69 million shares valued at 726.04 million ringgit (198 million dollars) while losers outnumbered gainers 356 to 322.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank was down 0.10 ringgit or 0.88 percent at 11.20, while energy firm Tenaga was up 0.05 or 0.51 at 9.95 and Telekom Malaysia was steady at 9.10. As for gaming groups, Genting was sharply lower on profit-taking, down 1.00 ringgit at 25.25 and Tanjong lost 0.10 at 12.20.