Malaysian shares closed up 0.46 percent Wednesday due to gains in selected blue chips, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 5.51 points to finish at 1,212.98. Dealers attributed the broad-based gains to positive sentiment after better-than-expected US retail sales data and upbeat comments about the world's biggest economy from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.
"Gains in regional markets provided an additional boost to market sentiment, triggering fresh buying interest from retail investors and short-term players," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. "Oil and gas stocks had a particularly strong run-up on hopes of rising job orders from Gorgon LNG project (in Australia)," the dealer added.
OSK technical analyst Shin Kao Jack said the bourse was likely to extend gains in coming days as it was far from overbought. Gainers included SapuraCrest, a leading Malaysian oil and gas services contractor, which rose 4.4 percent to 1.90 ringgit, while builder IJM added 1.4 percent to 6.42 and automaker Proton was up 12 percent at 4.38.