Malaysian share prices closed up 0.1 percent on Friday amid weak sentiment on a lack of fresh leads and ahead of a hotly-contested by-election, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 0.73 points to close at 898.18 on turnover of 546.61 million shares worth 549.66 million ringgit (165.06 million dollars). There were 214 gainers, 255 losers and 199 unchanged.
"Persistent selling in heavyweights amid weak sentiment continued to weigh on the broader market," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. "Pre-weekend selling added to the pressure as short-term investors unwound positions and opted to switch to cash. The technical outlook for the KLCI has also turned bearish following the recent pullback," he said.
Analysts say investors are also looking at the hotly contested Kuala Terengganu by-election on Saturday, which many view as a test of the government's popularity since disastrous national polls last year. Among decliners, Sime Darby fell 0.9 percent to 5.45 ringgit while Tenaga Nasional was down 1.6 percent at 6.0 ringgit and Bumiputra-Commerce dropped 0.8 percent to 6.50 ringgit. On the upside, Ramunia rose 20.6 percent to 0.38 ringgit as TMI climbed 5.8 percent to 3.66 ringgit and TM was up 1.9 percent at 3.18 ringgit.