Little Movement Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market turned lower again on Friday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost 7 point or 0.5 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just shy of the 1,610-point plateau and it figures to remain in that neighborhood again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with earnings optimism tempered by interest rate pessimism. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index fell 5.05 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,609.15 after trading between 1,607.66 and 1,615.10. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail fell 0.63 percent, while AMMB Holdings surrendered 1.38 percent, Axiata tumbled 1.57 percent, Celcomdigi was down 0.28 percent, CIMB Group eased 0.14 percent, Gamuda dropped 0.79 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.61 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 0.99 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 1.82 percent, Maxis sank 0.78 percent, Maybank gave up 0.20 percent, MISC slipped 0.51 percent, MRDIY declined 1.23 percent, Nestle Malaysia rallied 2.26 percent, Petronas Chemicals retreated 1.27 percent, Petronas Gas contracted 0.43 percent, PPB Group plummeted 3.97 percent, Press Metal advanced 0.80 percent, QL Resources skidded 0.95 percent, RHB Bank lost 0.73 percent, Sime Darby dipped 0.49 percent, SD Guthrie shed 0.75 percent, Sunway rose 0.19 percent, Tenaga Nasional slid 0.30 percent, YTL Corporation jumped 1.56 percent, YTL Power climbed 1.01 percent and Petronas Dagangan, Telekom Malaysia and Public Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday, dipped midday but rebounded into the close to finish in the green.

The Dow added 40.75 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 47,562.87, while the NASDAQ climbed 143.81 points or 0.61 percent to end at 23,724.96 and the S&P 500 rose 17.86 points or 0.26 percent to close at 6,840.20. For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, the Dow added 0.8 percent and the S&P gained 0.7 percent.

The early strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Amazon (AMZN), which reached a new record closing high after reporting better than expected third quarter results amid a sharp increase in revenue.

Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates contributed to the volatility on Wall Street following Federal Reserve Jerome Powell's remarks earlier this week.

While the Fed lowered interest rates by another quarter point as widely expected on Wednesday, Powell's post-meeting remarks partly offset optimism about another rate cut in December.

Crude oil prices edged higher Friday following reports the U.S. intends to strike Venezuelan military installations. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.41 or 0.68 percent at $60.98 per barrel.