Malaysian share prices closed 0.13 percent lower on Wednesday on continuing worries over the outbreak of bird flu, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur composite index was down 1.19 points at 921.94. Volume was 783.69 million shares worth 1.01 billion ringgit (0.27 billion dollars).
Losers outnumbered gainers 381 to 372, with 306 stocks unchanged and 264 untraded. The ringgit was traded at 3.6960 to the dollar and 4.4622 to the euro. "Trading was cautious due to bird flu concerns and profit-taking activity among selected blue chips," an analyst with a local brokerage said.
The market will get a lead tomorrow from the central bank's annual report released late Wednesday, he said. Among blue chips, Tenaga Nasional closed up 0.10 ringgit at 8.50, Telekom Malaysia was unchanged at 9.25 and Maybank lost 0.10 to 10.90.