Malaysian share price closed little changed on Tuesday, supported by late interest in selected blue chips, dealers said. They said the bourse was expected to consolidate further in the absence of fresh leads and concerns over rising oil prices, as well as weaker regional and global markets.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 0.83 points at 940.57 on volume of 834.84 million shares worth 933.75 million ringgit (252 million dollars) while losers outnumbered gainers 441 to 333 The ringgit was traded at 3.6705 to the dollar.
Retail interest in second-liners and speculative stocks helped ensure a healthy trading volume, dealers said.
"Institutional investors and fund managers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude with regards to market direction," a local brokerage dealer said.
"If government-linked corporations and blue chip companies are able to roll out decent sets of corporate results in the coming days, the bourse is poised to climb higher," the dealer added.
Telekom Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional were flat at 9.70 ringgit and 8.65 ringgit respectively, while Malayan Banking was up 0.10 rgt at 11.20.