Malaysian share price closed 0.57 percent higher on Wednesday due to buying in blue chips and buoyed by the overnight rally on Wall Street, dealers said.
But dealers cautioned that local market sentiment will continue to be underpinned by inflationary concerns as oil prices surged to a new high above 71 dollars a barrel.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 5.40 points at 945.97 and volume was 895.01 million shares worth 1.067 billion ringgit (288 million dollars) while gainers outnumbered losers 572 to 235.
The ringgit was traded at 3.6630 to the dollar. "Overall, the market is still in a consolidation mode with a softer underlying tone," a dealer from a local brokerage said.
Fresh leads which could entice "institutional investors into the market are positive sets of corporate results by index-linked companies," he added.
Among blue chips, Telekom Malaysia was up 0.05 ringgit at 9.75, while Tenaga Nasional and Malayan Banking were both flat at 8.65 ringgit and 11.20 ringgit, respectively.