Malaysian share prices closed 0.15 percent higher on Tuesday but the market was mixed overall, with light profit-taking evident as investors waited for a fresh lead, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 1.4 points at 921.31. Volume was 458.19 million shares, worth some 921.14 million ringgit (242.4 million dollars). Losers led gainers 430 to 284, while 306 stocks were unchanged and 282 untraded. A dealer at a local brokerage said the market was waiting for fresh positive developments to justify further gains.
"Trading interest today is relatively slow, it's a mixed market," he said.
He expected the market to be rangebound on Wednesday, and identified resistance at 924 points and support at 920 points.
He also expected the composite index to trade between 924-930 points.
Tenaga Nasional was up 0.10 ringgit at 10.80 ringgit, Telekom Malaysia was up 0.10 ringgit at 10.90, while Maybank was flat at 12.40.
Commerce Asset-Holdings was up 0.06 ringgit at 4.86 on expectations of better 2004 earnings, after Indonesian unit PT Bank Niaga reported a 41 percent rise in 2004 net profit.