Malaysian shares ended marginally in the red zone on Wednesday, snapping gains of the past four sessions. The index lost steam on profit taking activities.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, the main gauge of Malaysian stocks, shed 0.93 points to end 0.06% lower at 1,604.75 at the close.
The index opened higher but kept losing momentum throughout the trading session. The day ranged between 1,602.29 and 1,610.25.
In economic news, the international reserves of Bank Negara Malaysia stood at $112.8 billion as at April 30, the central bank announced today. The reserves position is sufficient to finance 5.5 months of imports of goods and services, and is one time of the total short-term external debt.
Malaysia's Services Producer Price Index averaged 115.8 points in the first quarter, up 1.0% from the preceding quarter, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said Wednesday. All subsectors saw growth during the quarter, except the transportation subsector, as it remained unchanged.
In corporate news, shares of the software company Metronic Global (KLSE:MTRONIC) slumped 25% today, and those of the construction company Lebtech (KLSE:LEBTECH) dropped over 23% on Wednesday's close.