Malaysian shares fell a second day on Thursday, dented by profit-taking and as key units of national oil firm, Petronas, continued a slide after the death of the company's chairman.
Dealers blamed the market decline on a lack of fresh leads and concerns about who would succeed the 69-year-old Azizan Zainul Abidin, who died on Wednesday.
Petronas unit MISC, the world's largest LNG carrier, dropped 2.3 percent to 12.50 ringgit, while fuels distributor Petronas Gas lost 0.7 percent to 7.10 ringgit.
"Basically, the market lacks leads and any unpleasant news like Azizan's death will be taken as an excuse to sell," said the head of institutional sales at a large brokerage.
"Investors are worried foreign funds might continue the sell down on MISC."
The 100-stock Composite Index closed down 0.76 percent to 838.60 points. Volume was 291 million shares worth 498 million ringgit ($131 million), with decliners beating gainers by 385 to 237. Other blue chips that dragged the index lower included top lender Maybank and national phone group Telekom.
Maybank lost 1.9 percent to 10.40 ringgit, while Telekom dropped one percent to 10.50 ringgit.
Local chipmakers such as Unisem and MPI were mixed after Wednesday's hefty losses on news that US semiconductor giant Intel had cut its profit margin forecast. Unisem fell nearly two percent to 7.65 ringgit, while MPI was flat at 15.00 ringgit.