Malaysian share prices closed 1.7 percent lower on Wednesday due to profit-taking following two days of gains, dealers said. They said trading was lacklustre amid the weak performance of major Asian bourses. "The fall in the local market is due to profit-taking and the overnight fall on Wall Street," Stephen Soo, analyst at local brokerage TA Securities told AFP.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 16.18 points to close at 949.88. Turnover was 571.809 million shares valued at 1.0 billion ringgit (286 million dollars) while losers outpaced gainers by 521 to 133. Genting lost 4.42 percent at 4.76 ringgit while top bank Maybank closed flat at 5.75. Telekom lost 0.59 percent at 3.36 ringgit while Tenaga fell 2.88 percent at 6.75.