KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysian shares closed lower on Monday after investors cashed in recent gains, taking their cue from Wall Street’s fall on Friday on lingering concerns about the state of the U.S. economy.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) finished down 10.89 points or 0.9 percent at 1,247.52.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30-large cap index dropped 84.08 points or 1 percent to 8,232.89. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia second board index fell 49.11 points or 0.8 percent to 5,884.56.

Decliners led advancers 509 to 230, with 213 stocks unchanged and 416 untraded.

Trading volume was 617.15 million shares, valued at 1.09 billion ringgit ($33.8 million).

The Malaysian ringgit was quoted at 3.1840/1945 against the U.S. dollar. The three-month interbank rates were quoted at 3.55/58 and overnight rates were at 3.48/50.
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KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysian shares closed slightly higher Friday, with a rebound by heavyweight Maybank from a steep sell-off yesterday helping to lift the key index.

Continued bargain-hunting, especially in construction, industrial and mining stocks, as well as window-dressing, helped the market climb after a flat start.

Gains in other Asian markets further supported Malaysian stocks.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed up 4.38 points or 0.4 percent at 1,258.41, off a low of 1,247.10. For the week, the KLCI was up 5.8 percent or 69.4 points.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30 large-cap index gained 26.74 points or 0.3 percent at 8,316.97 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia second board index advanced 52.84 points or 0.9 percent to 5,933.67.

Advancers beat decliners 498 to 237, with 218 stocks unchanged and 480 untraded.

Trading volume was 949 million shares, valued at 1.8 billion ringgit.

The sharp drop in Maybank shares on Thursday was a reaction to the price the bank paid for PT Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII), CIMB Research analyst Winson Ng said.
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KUALA LUMPUR: The KLCI snapped its winning streak in the morning session on Thursday, dragged down by losses in Maybank, but weaker Bursa Malaysia also mirrored the losses on most Asian markets due to the weaker Wall Street.

At 12.30pm, the KLCI had fallen 5.28 points or 0.42% to 1,240.14, but off the early low of 1,230.33. The FBMEmas fell 41.49 points to 8,368.77 while the FBM Second Board eased 3.50 points to 5,804.71.

Turnover was 372.84 million shares valued at RM676.6mil. There were 240 gainers, 360 losers while 195 counters were traded unchanged.

On Wall Street, the markets closed weaker, dragged down by financial shares on concerns that bank profits would take much longer than expected to recover from the housing slump.

At the Asian markets, Shanghai’s A Share Index skidded 3.79% or 143.60 points to 3,640.68, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 119.56 points or 0.94% to 12,587.07 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.14% to 2,991.06 while South Korea’s Kospi gave up 0.63% to 1,669.165. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.41% to 22,710.35.
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KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysian shares closed higher Wednesday on follow-through buying with sentiment still upbeat following recently announced measures to boost the stock market and the government’s pledge to proceed with major development projects.

Gains in some regional markets further spurred buying in local shares.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi yesterday unveiled various measures to boost the stock market and also promised to continue major projects even in states won by the opposition in the recent general elections.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was up 15.47 points or 1.3 percent at 1,245.42.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30-large cap index gained 81.73 points or 1.0 percent to 8,263.46 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia second board index added 21.54 points or 0.4 percent to 5,808.21.
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MAIN BOARD

THE Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) eased marginally in early trading and then adjusted higher in a mild upward correction before closing the week with moderate losses.

The KLCI ranged from the week’s high of 1,206.84 points to 1,166.83 points and rebounded marginally to close the week with minor losses at 1,189.06 points, down 5.78 points or 0.48% from previously.

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PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara’s international reserves rose RM9.06bil to RM393.21bil as at March 14 from RM384.15bil on Feb 29.

The central bank said yesterday the reserves were sufficient to finance 9.8 months of retained imports and was 7.2 times the short-term external debt.

Economists said the increase in international reserves could be due to foreign portfolio funds shifting their money into the bond market from equities, especially early last week, following political uncertainties and external factors.
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) — The three-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rates (KLIBOR) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected to stay range-bound next week on the back of the current steady cash rates movement, dealers said.

For the week just ended, the futures market was thinly traded with activities dominated by both strip and outright trade.

However, on Tuesday, the futures market was actively traded with demand dominated by strip trade.
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) — The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) futures contracts are expected to see an upward trend next week with the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) likely to surpass the 1,200 points level.

The stock market is expected to be backed by follow-through buying on selected index-linked counters, especially those related to plantation stocks, a dealer said.

“We could see for the week just ended some investors scrambling to liquidate their positions while others stayed on the sidelines amid continued concerns about the credit issue in the U.S,” he said.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Asian markets rallied in early trade on Wednesday, with the KLCI crossing the crucial 1,200 level, after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 75 basis points to 2.25%.

At 10am, the KLCI was up 21.57 points or 1.84% to 1,201.59. Turnover was 200 million shares valued at RM290mil. There were 355 gainers, 97 losers and 155 counters unchanged.

Asian stocks rallied with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index openeing 3.78% or 807.27 points higher at 22,191.88; Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.75% to 12,292.73; Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 2.49% to 2,904.04 while Shanghai’s A Share Index added 0.89% to 3,884.86.

The Federal Reserve slashed US interest rates on Tuesday, boosting Wall Street, which was already higher on stronger-than-expected investment bank earnings. The latest cut in interest rate took benchmark overnight rates down to 2.25%, the lowest since February 2005.

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KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 (Bernama) — The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives were higher in early trading today amid the uptrend on the cash market, dealers said.

Spot month March 2008 contract rose 19.0 points to 1,166.5, April 2008 added 17.0 points to 1,157.5, June 2008 gained 18.5 points to 1,147.5 and September 2008 climbed 19.0 points to 1,130.0.

A total of 2,570 lots changed hands.

On the cash market, the underlying KLCI went up 3.53 points to 1,181.06 after opening 7.13 points or 0.6 percent lower at 1,170.40.

– BERNAMA

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