Little Movement Expected For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market bounced higher again on Tuesday, one day after halting the six-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 40 points or 2.8 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,445-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the plantations, financials and telecoms.

For the day, the index added 5.17 points or 0.36 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,444.13 after moving as low as 1,438.95.

Among the actives, PPB Group surged 2.48 percent, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong soared 2.14 percent, Axiata spiked 2.10 percent, Telekom Malaysia accelerated 1.00 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rallied 0.95 percent, IOI Corporation jumped 0.77 percent, Mr. DYI strengthened 0.66 percent, Westports Holdings climbed 0.63 percent, Dialog Group advanced 0.47 percent, MISC added 0.42 percent, Press Metal sank 0.41 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.34 percent, Hong Leong Bank collected 0.31 percent, Tenaga Nasional rose 0.30 percent, Petronas Chemicals gathered 0.27 percent, Maxis perked 0.25 percent, Genting and Public Bank both were up 0.24 percent, Celcomdigi fell 0.23 percent, Maybank improved 0.22 percent and Petronas Gas, Sime Darby, RHB Bank, CIMB Group and Genting Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages open sharply lower on Tuesday but fought back into the green before finally settling mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 13.11 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 33,997,65, while the NASDAQ shed 34.24 points or 0.25 percent to close at 13,533.75 and the S&P 500 eased 0.43 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,373.20.

The early weakness on Wall Street came after data showed bigger than expected increases in retail sales and industrial production last month, raising concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for longer or even announce a rate hike this year.

Higher bond yields and geopolitical concerns in the Middle East also kept investors wary.

Crude oil futures settled flat on Tuesday after a lackluster session as investors continued to track the developments on the geopolitical front and weighed the outlook for global demand and supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended at $86.66 a barrel, unchanged from the previous close.