Little Movement Predicted For Malaysia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday snapped the five-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 35 points or 2.2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,635-point plateau and it figures to remain in that neighborhood again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as the U.S. government shutdown continues. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index slipped 2.74 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 1,635.06 after trading between 1,631.43 and 1,658.73. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rallied 1.39 percent, while AMMB Holdings sank 0.68 percent, Celcomdigi lost 0.54 percent, CIMB Group climbed 1.05 percent, Gamuda dipped 0.18 percent, IHH Healthcare tanked 1.57 percent, IOI Corporation gathered 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 1.66 percent, Maxis rose 0.27 percent, Maybank and PPB Group both perked 0.20 percent, MISC added 0.54 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.20 percent, Nestle Malaysia and Hong Leong Bank both eased 0.10 percent, Petronas Chemicals advanced 0.94 percent, Petronas Dagangan increased 0.78 percent, Petronas Gas gained 0.43 percent, Press Metal shed 0.67 percent, Public Bank dropped 0.69 percent, QL Resources improved 0.92 percent, Sunway fell 0.34 percent, Telekom Malaysia slumped 0.70 percent, Tenaga Nasional tumbled 1.34 percent and YTL Corporation, YTL Power, RHB Bank, Sime Darby, SD Guthrie and Axiata were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Friday but went off in different directions to finish mixed.

The Dow jumped 238.58 points or 0.51 percent to finish at a record 46,758.28, while the NASDAQ sank 63.59 points or 0.28 percent to end at 22,780.51 and the S&P 500 perked 0.44 points or 0.01 percent to close at 6,715.79, also a record. For the week, the NASDAQ rallied 1.3 percent, while the Dow and the S&P both rose 1.1 percent.

The NASDAQ sank on weakness from technology shares such as Palantir (PLTR), Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA).

The lackluster performance by the broader markets came as the ongoing U.S. government shutdown has led to the indefinite delay of key U.S. economic data, including Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report.

However, weak data from non-government sources has increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the coming months.

Crude oil prices advanced on Friday amid U.S. dollar weakness as the government shutdown persisted. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.41 or 0.68 percent at $60.89 per barrel.