Malaysian shares closed up 0.48 percent on Thursday amid buying interest from local funds, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 4.60 points to 961.28, with decliners outnumbering gainers 414 to 310. "Although the benchmark ended in positive territory, profit-taking was evident across a broader range of stocks," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.
Among gainers, Tenaga Nasional rose 6.20 percent to 6.90 ringgit and Maybank added 1.40 percent to 4.38. On the downside, Gamuda lost 2.8 percent to 2.41 ringgit while Sime Darby slipped 1.6 percent to 6.35.