Malaysian shares closed up 1.88 percent Monday amid a surge in buying interest and gains in regional markets, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 18.62 points to 1,009.36, reaching a high for 2009. Gainers outnumbered losers 536 to 153.
"Gains in regional markets helped to drive this liquidity-driven rally. Clearly, retail investors are back in the market, judging by the number of active penny-stocks and small-cap stocks," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. Among gainers, IOI Corp added 2.8 percent to 4.42 ringgit while Genting rose 2.6 percent to 4.80. DiGi.com lost 1.4 percent to 22.0 ringgit and KL Kepong was down 1.70 percent to 11.40.