Malaysian share prices closed up 0.2 percent on Wednesday after investors snapped up bargains in select blue chips and plantation stocks, dealers said. "The market continued to be very quiet today with investors staying on the sidelines after a tumble in regional markets, especially the Shanghai market," said Stephen Soo, an analyst at TA Securities.
"Depending on what happens on Wall Street going forward, a sell-off may be coming, the current uptrend is not sustainable," he said, citing worries about the US economy and the outlook for China's stock markets. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index finished up 2.03 points at 1,227.74 with a lean 431 million shares traded, worth 1.1 billion ringgit (346 million dollars).
Decliners led gainers 323 to 321, with 257 stocks unchanged and 528 untraded. At the close, the Malaysian ringgit was quoted at 3.1790/1795 against the US dollar. Among market heavyweights, national power utility Tenaga gained 10 sen to 7.15 ringgit, Malaysia's top bank Maybank was flat at 8.20 ringgit while state-run Telekom Malaysia slipped 10 sen to 10.60 ringgit. Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings, the second largest banking group in Malaysia, advanced 25 sen to 10.20 ringgit.