Lower Open Called For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had collected just 4 points or 0.2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,610-point plateau and it may open in the red again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to elevated treasury yields and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were firmly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses among the financial shares, plantation stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index retreated 21.57 points or 1.32 percent to finish at 1,611.78 after trading between 1,610.55 and 1,633.54.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 341.41 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 51,179.87, while the NASDAQ sank 61.20 points or 0.22 percent to end at 27,538.69 and the S&P 500 slipped 17.16 points or 0.22 percent to close at 7,801.77.

The weakness on Wall Street emerged after the benchmark ten-year treasury yield bounced back to its highest levels since 2002 - however, they eased as the day progressed, mitigating some of the markets' selling pressure.

Crude oil prices slumped again on Wednesday, unable to hold early gains after the International Energy Agency announced member states have expressed support for accelerating the oil stock releases. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.15 or 1.3 percent at $88.29 a barrel.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which confirmed most officials expect to once again raise interest rates before the end of the year.