Malaysian shares ended 0.12 percent higher Thursday amid the listing of mobile operator Maxis and persistent profit-taking by retail investors, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 1.55 points to close at 1,276.65 on a volume of 1.35 billion shares worth 2.69 billion ringgit (795.98 million dollars). There were 238 gainers, 457 losers and 245 counters unchanged.
"The Maxis listing created a short-term buzz in the market but this quickly died down with retail players happy to cash in on gains in excess of 13 percent," a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. Malaysia's top mobile operator made a strong return to the bourse Thursday in Southeast Asia's biggest ever IPO, which was worth 3.3 billion dollars. The firm's shares traded within the 5.28 and 5.50 ringgit range for most of the day, closing 8.4 percent higher at 5.42 ringgit.
Based on its closing price, Maxis will have a market capitalisation of more than 40.65 billion ringgit, making it the fourth-largest company on the local bourse. Among gainers, plantation conglomerate IOI Corp rose 0.7 percent to 5.54 ringgit as gaming giant Genting climbed 0.7 percent to 7.13 ringgit.