Malaysian shares closed up 0.50 percent Thursday led by banking stocks, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 4.22 points to 852.18, with advancers outnumbering decliners 230 to 215. "Gains were quite strong at the opening but selling emerged towards the later part of the day and chipped away part of the gains," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.
"We started seeing selling this afternoon and this could continue tomorrow as investors unwind positions ahead of the weekend," another dealer said, adding that banking stocks continued to lead gains. Among advancers, Maybank rose 4.40 percent to 4.26 ringgit and Bumi-Commerce gained 0.8 percent to 6.30. On the downside, Public Bank lost 2.00 percent to 7.40 ringgit and Sime was down 0.90 percent to 5.45.