Malaysian shares closed up 0.1 percent on Monday due to investors buying selective blue chips, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 1.02 points to 1,091.17. Losers outnumbered gainers 607 to 193. Dealers said volume was moderate at 1.92 billion shares worth 1.88 billion ringgit (537 million dollars).
"We had a heavy bout of profit-taking, especially among small- and mid-cap stocks but gains in a handful of blue chips helped to offset declines," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. The dealer said the bourse would continue trading within a tight 1,080-1,100 points range in cautious trade as retail investors would sell into strength in the absence of positive leads. Maybank gained 2.5 percent to close at 6.10 ringgit, Sime Darby added 0.7 percent to 7.05 and Bumiputra-Commerce rose 1.1 percent to 9.25. On the downside, KNM shed 5.3 percent to 98.5 sen and Equine lost 2.2 percent to 65.5 sen.