Malaysian share prices closed flat in rangebound trade on Wednesday, continuing to mark time in the absence of a fresh lead, dealers said.
Investors were also sidelined before a long holiday stretch in the week ahead, which includes the Hindu Deepavali festival on November 1, followed by the Muslim Hari Raya Aidil Fitri on November 2 and 3, they added.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index added 0.46 points to 905.21 and volume traded was 295.93 million shares, worth 553.75 million ringgit (146.70 million dollars).
Losers outnumbered gainers 356 to 286. The ringgit was traded at 3.7747 to the dollar and 4.5591 to the euro.
"It was a listless and boring day. Most investors chose to stay on the sidelines and were reluctant to take any heavy position in view of the upcoming long break for Deepavali and Hari Raya celebrations," a local brokerage dealer said.
He predicted the KLCI on Thursday would trade within a narrow range of 900 to 910 points.
Among blue chips, power giant Tenaga Nasional was down 0.10 ringgit at 10.20 after posting results for the year to August which came in below expectations, dealers said.
Telekom Malaysia fell 0.05 to 9.90, while Malayan Banking was flat at 11.50.
AirAsia was up 0.07 at 1.63, after announcing the finance ministry had approved the company's application for additional tax incentives, which are expected to boost earnings, dealers said.
Southern Bank was up 0.02 at 3.82 on speculation Bumiputra-Commerce may make a voluntary general offer for the company in a bid to control Southern Bank, dealers said. Bumiputra-Commerce was down 0.15 at 5.50.