Malaysian share prices closed 0.9 percent lower on Monday, weighed down by losses across all sectors after a pullback on Wall Street last week, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 10.42 points to close at 1,148.68, in modest volume of 388.2 million shares.
Declining stocks outpaced gainers 347 to 215. Finance stocks were worst hit by profit-taking from last week's rally, while plantation concerns slipped on weaker crude palm oil prices.
"Sentiment was generally very weak in the absence of any positive catalysts," one dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. "The benchmark's inability to close above the 1,150 psychological resistance is also a very bearish signal," he added. Among declining stocks, IOI Corp was down 3.5 percent at 5.50 ringgit and Maybank was 1.3 percent weaker at 7.85 ringgit.