Malaysian share prices closed 1.14 percent higher on Friday, extending gains to a seventh straight day after the government announced major incentives for the property sector, dealers said. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Thursday announced at a major investment conference that the property capital gains tax will be abolished from April 1.
He also proposed tax cuts and other measures to attract foreign investors to develop an ambitious project in southern Johor state. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed up 13.93 points at 1,235.65. Volume was 2.14 billion shares worth 2.63 billion ringgit (760.6 million dollars). Gainers led losers 467 to 426, with 255 stocks unchanged.
At the close, the ringgit was quoted at 3.4590/4640 to the dollar. The gains were mainly due to the "spill-over effect of announcements at the Invest Malaysia conference," said Cheah King Yoong, head of research at SJ Securities. At the conference, Malaysia's leaders and chiefs of major corporations briefed fund managers and investment analysts.
The local bourse is expected to be "foreign-driven" going forward and will continue to take its cues from Wall Street as well as developments on regional markets, he added. Analysts said sentiment Friday was further underpinned by a positive close on Wall Street overnight.
Index heavyweights closed mixed, with Telekom Malaysia losing 0.10 ringgit to 10.10, Tenaga gaining 0.10 to 11.50 and Maybank adding 0.10 to 12.70. Genting was steady at 39.75 ringgit despite its unit Genting International saying that UK unit Stanley Leisure will likely be adversely affected by the proposed gaming tax hike in Britain's budget.