Malaysian share prices closed flat on Wednesday as blue chips fell on profit-taking, while second board counters continued to buck the trend amid speculative interest, dealers said.
Banking stocks came under selling pressure on a report that the central bank may impose tighter credit card controls as it looks at ways to curb rising household debt, which may impact their earnings, they said.
However, buying interest in lower-liners and Mesdaq stocks was evident among retail investors, boosting trade volumes above the 1 billion share mark for the sixth successive session.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 0.59 points at 941.88. Gainers outnumbered losers 441 to 427, with 261 stocks unchanged and 190 untraded. Turnover volume was 1.39 billion shares worth 1.4 billion ringgit (0.38 billion dollars).
"Institutional investors decided to stay on the sideline following the dismal overnight performance on Wall Street and amid fears a further spike in oil prices will trigger inflation," a dealer with a local brokerage said.
Among blue chips, Telekom Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional and Maybank closed flat at 9.60 ringgit, 8.65 ringgit and 11.20 ringgit, respectively.
British American Tobacco (M) Co Bhd (BAT) was up 1.25 ringgit at 44.25, Genting Bhd up 0.25 at 25.25, and Resorts World up 0.30 at 13.40. Among banking stocks, Public Bank was down 0.05 at 6.65, Bumiputra-Commerce dropped 0.10 each to 6.60, while RHB Capital eased 0.03 to 2.42. AMMB Holdings Bhd and Malaysian Plantations Bhd were flat 2.89 and 2.23, respectively.