Malaysian share prices closed 0.8 percent lower on Friday on profit taking amid low trading volumes as investors remained cautious over the impact of US subprime credit fears, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 10.10 points to 1,273.52. Gainers led losers 481 to 363, with 258 stocks unchanged.
"Basically, the market is down on profit-taking after gaining sharply over the past two days," said Vincent Khoo, Aseambankers head of research. The market here rallied earlier this week in line with regional stocks after gains on Wall Street, but analysts said that with the full impact of the credit crunch still unclear, investors were cautious.
"The market has rebounded by more than 100 points over the past two days. It is normal for investors to want to take some profits as the global market outlook remains hazy," TA Securities dealer Sean Tan said.
Index heavyweights closed the day lower with state-run Telekom Malaysia down 20 sen at 9.90 ringgit and national power company Tenaga down 20 sen at 10.30 ringgit. Maybank, the country's largest lender was flat at 11.60 ringgit.
Leisure group Resorts World fell four sen to 3.76 ringgit after the company announced Thursday its second quarter net profit jumped 72.9 percent to 305.833 million ringgit, boosted by higher visitor arrivals. Palm oil planter Asiatic Development gained 10 sen or 1.8 percent to 5.70 ringgit after the company reported Thursday a 154 percent jump in net profit to 75.0 million ringgit.