Malaysian stocks closed up on Monday ahead of peak quarterly earnings announcements, but gains were capped by lingering worries about high oil prices and their impact on global economy.
The 100-stock Composite Index ended up 0.36 percent at 794.39 points. Volume was a weak 329 million shares worth 591 million ringgit ($156 million), with losers and gainers almost matched.
But analysts were unsure if the market had turned the corner after last week's steep losses sparked by high oil prices that hit a 21-year high.
"The recovery is not that strong. There's still no clear indication of the market bottoming," said Heddy Humaizi Hussain, an analyst with Maybank Securities.
Malaysia's corporate reporting season for the January-March period gets into full swing this week, with state-owned national carrier Malaysian Airline System among the first few heavyweights to report its results.
The airline said after hours it posted a three-fold rise in fourth-quarter profit of 294.51 million ringgit, as the global travel market recovered from last year's twin blows - the Iraq war and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.
Another government-controlled firm, phone company Telekom Malaysia, and rival Maxis Communications, are also due to release their results this week.
Analysts said they expected higher earnings this year as the companies signed up more clients.
Telekom rose 1.1 percent to 9.35 ringgit, while Maxis gained 0.6 percent to 8.85 ringgit.
Shares of car maker Proton Holdings, which began delivering its latest Gen.2 sedan model last month, fell 3.1 percent to 7.90 ringgit. The fall came despite an industry body saying sales of passenger cars rose almost nine percent in April from a year earlier.
The Malaysian Automotive Association also forecast May sales to be positive due to deliveries of new models and as buyers abandoned their wait-and-see attitude of the last few months.
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