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KL shares end slightly lower, more upside seen

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares broke a six-session rally on Tuesday by ending lower but analysts see more upside with medium-capitalised stocks coming into favour.

The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's Composite Index fell 3.80 points or 0.4 percent to close at 946.62 after touching an intraday high of 966.73.

"Some people have been quite glad to be able to get rid of some stocks they have been holding on to for quite a while," a local dealer said. KL shares end slightly lower, more upside seen

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares broke a six-session rally on Tuesday by ending lower but analysts see more upside with medium-capitalised stocks coming into favour.

The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's Composite Index fell 3.80 points or 0.4 percent to close at 946.62 after touching an intraday high of 966.73.

"Some people have been quite glad to be able to get rid of some stocks they have been holding on to for quite a while," a local dealer said. The Composite Index has risen about 17 percent since the start of the year as regional fund managers reallocate money to Malaysian shares ahead of the country's reinstatement to the Morgan Stanley Capital International indices in May.

"There is going to be some pullback, but now people are going to focus on second and third-liners," a foreign brokerage dealer said.

The country's largest listed company Telekom fell 90 cents to 16.80 ringgit after that stock's sharp gains since last week, knocking about seven points off the benchmark index.

Industrial group Time Engineering was the most active share, rising 20 cents to 2.60 ringgit with 2.7 million shares traded on market talk the company may sell or list its telecommunications arm, the newly named Time dotCom Bhd. Direct seller Amway (Malaysia) was among the highest gainers, rising 2.40 ringgit 13.30 ringgit after it announced unexpectedly good results and its proposal to launch a two-for-three bonus issue.

Market volume was heavy with 796 million shares compared to Monday's one billion shares. Gainers beat losers 441 to 291.-Reuters