Malaysian share prices closed 0.49 percent higher on Thursday following Wall Street's strong rebound overnight and on hopes the government will continue to pump-prime the economy, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 6.75 points to 1,366.02, off a high of 1,374.57.
On volume of 1.452 billion shares worth 2.636 billion ringgit (764.0 million dollars) Gainers led losers 577 to 345. At the close, the ringgit was quoted at 3.4495/4545 against the dollar. Teoh Cheng Guan, head of retail research at Kenanga Investment Bank, said investors reacted positively to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's earlier remarks of more development projects to be launched over the next few months. "I think the market's downside is limited ahead of the general election, which many believe will be held later this year," said Teoh.
National power company Tenaga closed up 0.20 ringgit at 11.10 on a technical rebound ahead of the release of its third quarter to May results tomorrow. Banks were broadly higher, with EON Capital gaining 0.65 ringgit to 7.95 while AMMB added 0.04 to 4.70. Malaysia's largest bank Maybank was flat at 12.20 ringgit and state-owned Telekom Malaysia was steady at 10.40.