Malaysian share prices closed 0.88 percent lower on Friday in line with the weaker regional markets after Wall Street fell sharply overnight, dealers said. They said sentiment was also undermined by the ringgit, which weakened on foreign investors unwinding their positions.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 12.02 points at 1,352.39, off an intraday high of 1,359.18. It traded to a low of 1,351.38. Trading volume was 1.09 billion shares, valued at 1.80 billion ringgit, while losers led gainers 510 to 360 and 244 stocks were unchanged.
At the close, the ringgit was quoted at 3.4680/4730 against the dollar. TA Securities' chief investment officer Chow Swee Kee said the weak local performance was due to sustained falls on Wall Street, although the drop of "over a hundred points is not very alarming".
He said local investors are likely to have used the declines in the US and ensuing losses in the region as an excuse to take profits. "Wall Street's fall by nearly 200 points is not alarming. It's normal," he added. He also said the weakening of the ringgit was in tandem with the strength of the US dollar against other currencies.
Index heavyweights closed mostly lower, though Telekom Malaysia was unchanged at 10.20 ringgit. Tenaga lost 0.30 ringgit to 11.40 and Maybank fell 0.20 to 11.90. Proton was down 0.10 ringgit at 6.35 as investors took profits after a strong performance Thursday amid speculation that the ailing carmaker is close to a tie-up with Germany's Volkswagen AG.