The benchmark index closed at 1,863.69 points, up 0.99 of a point, after fluctuating between 1,860.24 points and 1,868.77 points throughout the day.

The government has announced the removal of the mandatory requirement for credit ratings and equity shareholding liberalisation, as well as allow foreign corporations to own 100 per cent of shares in unit trust management companies.

The announcement was made today at the ongoing Invest Malaysia 2014 conference here.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 401 to 321, with 327 counters unchanged, 563 untraded and 25 others suspended.

Volume decreased to 1.12 billion shares valued at RM1.24 billion from 1.27 billion shares worth RM1.4 billion last Friday.

An analyst said last week's profit-taking activities continued amid weakening technical outlook coupled with the start of the FIFA World Cup 2014 on Thursday which could see less participation.

However, the release of stronger-than-expected exports growth data in May and the Invest Malaysia 2014, acted as strong support.

Among actives, Eti Tech fell one sen to eight sen, Advance Synergy was flat at 25.5 sen and Sona Petroleum gained two sen for 53.5 sen.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.85, Public Bank improved two sen to RM20.80 and Tenaga gained eight sen to RM11.78.

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index declined 20.92 points to 17,166.47 points, the Plantation Index increased 39.75 points to 9,179.08 points and the Industrial Index jumped 2.1 points to 3,162.3 points.

The FBM Emas Index was 0.76 of a point higher at 12,898.88 points, the FBMT100 Index was 0.221 of a point higher at 12,543.49 points, and the FBM 70 fell 25.091 points to 14,040.1 points, while the Ace Index rose 14.2 points to 6,605.96 points. -- Bernama