Malaysian share prices closed down 0.3 percent on Thursday as record high oil prices fuelled inflation fears, dealers said. They said such fears came after the cost of oil rose to more than 96 dollars a barrel in Asian trade as the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed down 4.49 points to 1,409.16, after hitting a fresh intraday record of 1,423.81. Volume was 1.5 billion shares valued at 2.0 billion ringgit (600 million dollars).
Decliners led gainers 534 to 322, with 290 stocks unchanged. The ringgit was quoted at 3.3310/3.3344 to the US dollar. "The market's tone is still firm. The index is likely to undergo a consolidation before any upward movement can begin (again)," said Stephen Soo, technical analyst at TA Securities.
Among index heavyweights, the country's largest power producer Tenaga Nasional was up 5 sen to 9.40 ringgit while Malaysia's largest bank, Maybank, was steady at 11.20 ringgit along with Telekom Malaysia at 10.20 ringgit. Malaysia Airline dropped 20 sen to 5.20 ringgit as Southeast Asia's largest budget carrier AirAsia was down 2 sen at 1.93 ringgit.