Little Movement Expected For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 8 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,620-point plateau and it figures to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with tech weakness countered by sinking oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher again on Monday as gains from the financial, energy and plantation sectors were capped by weakness among the technology and industrial stocks.

For the day, the index rose 3.91 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 1,619.51 after trading between 1,607.15 and 1,623.33.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspiring as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded throughout the session before ending mixed.

The Dow climbed 213.67 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 51,983.98, while the NASDAQ tumbled 272.68 points or 1.07 percent to close at 25,164.32 and the S&P 500 shed 38.67 points or 0.51 percent to end at 7,541.40.

The significant downturn by the NASDAQ came amid continued weakness among tech stocks, as worries about the outlook for the artificial intelligence weighed on the sector once again.

Outside of the tech sector, energy stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 5.1 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday on reports that discussions are ongoing to settle the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $7.76 or 7.45 percent at $96.36 per barrel.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity increased by more than expected in the month of October.