Malaysian share prices closed 0.7 percent higher on Tuesday, recovering from earlier falls as investors took profits after two days of steady gains, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index inched up 6.23 points to close at 905.58 on turnover of 1.1 billion shares valued at 1.2 billion ringgit (340 million dollars).
They said optimism that a government stimulus package would help the economy had helped turn the market around later in the day. Market breadth was slightly positive with gainers leading losers 365 to 246 while 217 stocks were unchanged. A trader said trading intensified after Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak began announcing the stabilisation plan in parliament just before the market closed. The package included a 2.0 billion dollar spending programme to boost the economy.
"The market turned slightly positive in the afternoon, after a weak showing in the morning, with investors buying ahead of the announcement of the stabilisation plan," the trader told Dow Jones Newswires. The government also slashed its 2009 growth forecast from 5.4 percent to 3.5 percent. Dealers said the gains in the market were still short-lived as there are still a lot of uncertainties.
Among gainers BAT was up 2.5 percent at 41.50 ringgit, Guinness was 6.3 percent higher at 5.10 ringgit, DiGi added 1.6 percent at 19.60 ringgit and Maybank gained 1.7 percent at 5.95 ringgit. Genting shed 0.8 percent to 4.88 ringgit and Gamuda lost 1.8 percent to 1.62 ringgit.
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