Higher Open Anticipated For Malaysia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,440-point plateau and it's tipped to see additional support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on rising optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the plantation stocks, telecoms and financials.

For the day, the index rose 4.44 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,439.77 after trading between 1,435.86 and 1,441.35.

Among the actives, Axiata surged 5.05 percent, while Celcomdigi spiked 1.19 percent, Dialog Group jumped 0.97 percent, Genting climbed 0.74 percent, Genting Malaysia and Press Metal both added 0.41 percent, IHH Healthcare fell 0.17 percent, IOI Corporation and Tenaga Nasional both improved 0.51 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 0.55 percent, MISC and Petronas Chemicals both eased 0.14 percent, MRDIY sank 0.66 percent, PPB Group tumbled 1.32 percent, Public Bank collected 0.48 percent, RHB Capital rose 0.12 percent, Sime Darby rallied 0.88 percent, Westports Holdings dropped 0.59 percent and Maxis, Maybank, Telekom Malaysia, CIMB Group, Sime Darby Plantations, Petronas Dagangan and QL Resources were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 564.50 points or 1.70 percent to finish at 33,839.08, while the NASDAQ jumped 232.72 points or 1.78 percent to end at 13,294.19 and the S&P 500 rallied 79.92 points of 1.89 percent to close at 4,317.78.

The rally on Wall Street came on optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed left rates unchanged for the third time in the past four meetings, suggesting the central bank is done raising interest rates.

Treasury yields moved notably lower Wednesday and showed another significant move to the downside today, adding to the buying interest.

Traders will look now to the Labor Department's closely watched employment report for the month of October, due out later today.

Crude oil futures climbed higher Thursday as the dollar weakened on bets the Federal Reserve is done with its rate hiking cycle. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rallied $2.02 or 2.5 percent at $82.46 a barrel.