Malaysian shares rise

Malaysian shares ended up 0.56 percent on Friday in a muted response to the 2010 budget, which focused on reining in government spending and reducing the deficit, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 7.08 points to 1,267.10. "Buying interest was largely driven by local government-led funds with the focus on big cap stocks throughout the day," one dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Budget headlines were very much within expectations and there were no major positive surprises aside from the government's plan to bring down the 2010 deficit to 40.5 billion ringgit (12 billion dollars) or 5.6 percent of GDP," he said. Among major stocks, Sime Darby rose 2.4 percent to 9.07 ringgit, CIMB gained 1.4 percent to 12.74 ringgit and IJM Land lost 2.7 percent to 2.49 ringgit.