Malaysian share prices closed up 0.50 percent on Thursday but concerns continued to linger over the US economy with late profit taking overshadowing gains made in the earlier session, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur composite index closed up 6.22 points at 1,313.39. It traded between 1,324.68 and 1,312.65.
Losers led gainers 498 to 428, with 225 stocks unchanged. Trading volume was 1.226 billion shares, valued at 1.779 billion ringgit. "This remains a "yo-yo" market. Sentiment is still fragile after the recent sharp correction in regional markets. Any negative news flow is capable of triggering another round of sell-offs," said SBB Securities senior investment analyst Ng Jun Sheng.
Ng said the US Federal Reserve's statement that it is still confident the economy there will sustain a moderate growth rate reflects the Fed's belief that the sub-prime crisis will eventually be resolved by the system itself.
Banking group AMMB gained six sen to 4.32 ringgit after reporting a 51 percent jump in first quarter net profit to 181.08 million ringgit from a year earlier. AMMB owns AmBank Bhd, the fifth largest commercial bank in Malaysia. Mobile operator DiGi was up 30 sen at 20.80 ringgit.
Index heavyweights finished the day lower. National Power Company Tenaga dropped 10 sen to 10.80 ringgit, while state-run Telekom Malaysia slid five sen to 9.90 ringgit. Maybank, Malaysia's largest lender, fell 10 sen to 11.80 ringgit.
Comments
Comments are closed.