Malaysian share prices closed 0.19 percent lower on Monday on profit-taking in selected blue chips, shrugging off the positive lead set by Wall Street last Friday, dealers said. They said interest continued to be seen in speculative lower liners, while blue chips were lightly traded.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 1.76 points to 915.08 and volume was 446.36 million shares, worth 528.98 million ringgit (139 million dollars) while losers outnumbered gainers 430 to 284.
"It's only healthy that the market takes a pause after rising to a five-month high last week," said a local brokerage dealer.
Among blue chips, both Tenaga Nasional and Telekom Malaysia were flat at 10.70 ringgit, while Malayan Banking was down 0.10 at 11.10.
Proton Holdings was down 0.25 at 7.85, on a report that talks between the company and Volkswagen have stalled after Proton's senior management opposed the German auto group's plans to acquire a substantial stake.
ABF Malaysia Bond Index Fund was up 0.007 at 1.05 ringgit, higher than its initial public offering price of 1.043 on its debut on the main board of Bursa Malaysia, dealers said.