Malaysian share prices closed 0.39 percent higher Monday with property stocks posting strong gains amid a strong rebound on Wall Street at the end of last week, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 5.27 points at 1,357.66, off a high of 1,367.94 on volume of 1.484 billion shares valued at 2.092 billion ringgit (603 million dollars).
Gainers led losers 620 to 314. At the close, the ringgit was quoted at 3.4705/4755 against the dollar. Chan Ken Yew, investment analyst at OSK Securities, said local investor sentiment improved slightly after Wall Street rebounded last week.
The bourse failed to sustain at the 1,365 points level, indicating that the market has yet to emerge from its consolidation mode, he said. Index heavyweights were mostly higher, with national utility Tenaga rising 0.10 ringgit to 11.50, Maybank gained 0.30 to 12.20, while Telekom Malaysia was flat at 10.20.
Perisai Petroleum closed flat at 0.935 ringgit, off a high of 1.01. TA Securities analyst Kaladher Govindan said the oil and gas firm was a laggard among its peers. SAAG, which provides oil rig services, continued to surge, rising 0.60 ringgit to 8.80.
Guocoland gained 0.30 ringgit to 3.26 on ongoing speculation that the property firm is a take-over target. Among property developers, Malaysian Resources fell 0.02 ringgit to 2.49 amid speculation that it will buy a stake in Equine Capital Bhd.