Malaysian share prices closed flat on Thursday as investors remained sidelined in the absence of strong positive leads ahead of a long break during the Lunar New Year holiday next week, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 0.66 points at 917.85. Volume stood at 527 million shares worth about 1.02 billion ringgit (268 million dollars). Losers led gainers 389 to 332, with 323 stocks unchanged and 255 untraded.

"The market is still quiet with very little reaction to the US interest rate hike and many investors still sidelined," one dealer with a bank-backed brokerage said.

Some dealers attributed the quiet market to investors preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday next week.

Among blue chips, Tenaga was down 0.20 ringgit at 10.60 and Telekom lost 0.10 to 10.70, while Malayan Banking was up 0.10 at 12.40.

New listing Freight Management Holdings was up 0.02 at 0.67 ringgit.

Plantation stocks were down on concerns that lower purchases from India and declining soybean prices will hurt earnings. IOI Corp was down 0.05 ringgit at 9.25 and Kumpulan Guthrie lost 0.03 to 2.20.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005