Malaysian share prices closed 0.53 percent lower Friday led by losses in blue chips, dealers said. They said investors were trimming their positions ahead of the weekend while waiting for further market moving developments. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 4.87 points at 907.75 and volume totalled 466.59 million shares worth one billion ringgit (263 million dollars).

Losers led gainers 478 to 262.

A local brokerage dealer said investors were staying on the sidelines as they awaited new corporate developments.

"Investors were cautious today, with most of them reluctant to make any commitment ahead of the weekend," he said.

He said trading interest for next week would depend on fresh market moving news.

"Based on short-term charts, the bourse is trading sideways and might continue to do so until indicators show bullish signs," he said.

Tenaga Nasional was down 0.30 ringgit at 10.30 ringgit on concerns over recent power blackouts, dealers said. Malayan Banking was down 0.10 ringgit at 12.30 on concerns that financial liberalisation would chip away at its competitiveness, while Telekom Malaysia lost 0.10 ringgit to 10.60.

Road Builder Holdings gained 0.06 ringgit to 2.90 on a possible upward revision of its earnings forecast. AMFB Holdings rose 0.05 ringgit to 6.90 as some investors bought the stock to position themselves for the finance company's privatisation.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005