Malaysia Bourse Likely To Open To The Downside On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped more than 7 points or 0.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,590-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over inflation and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and plantation stocks, while the telecoms and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 13.36 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 1,591.03 after trading between 1,578.14 and 1,591.03.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail strengthened 1.91 percent, while Axiata shed 0.48 percent, Celcomdigi rallied 2.08 percent, CIMB Group was up 0.12 percent, Gamuda spiked 3.48 percent, IHH Healthcare rose 0.69 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.80 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 1.74 percent, Maybank collected 0.57 percent, MISC tanked 2.32 percent, MRDIY jumped 2.07 percent, Nestle Malaysia added 0.85 percent, Petronas Chemicals skyrocketed 11.89 percent, Petronas Dagangan surged 6.44 percent, PPB Group soared 3.81 percent, Press Metal lost 0.38 percent, Public Bank gathered 0.22 percent, RHB Bank perked 0.15 percent, SD Guthrie improved 1.46 percent, Sunway accelerated 2.79 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 1.32 percent, Tenaga Nasional increased 1.30 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 3.45 percent, YTL Power plunged 3.30 percent and Maxis, QL Resources, Sime Darby and Petronas Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened slightly lower on Friday but headed steadily lower throughout the day, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 748.63 points or 1.69 percent to finish at 43,428.02, while the NASDAQ stumbled 438.36 points or 2.20 percent to close at 19,524.01 and the S&P 500 sank 104.39 points or 1.71 percent to 6,013.13. For the week, the Dow and the NASDAQ both dropped 2.5 percent, while the S&P tumbled 1.8 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by much more than expected in February.

The substantial deterioration by consumer sentiment came amid a surge by year-ahead inflation expectations, which spiked to 4.3 percent in February from 3.3 percent in January, reaching the highest level since November 2023.

Oil prices fell sharply to a two-month low on Friday, weighed down by concerns over the outlook for demand, and data showing a jump in crude inventories. A stronger dollar also fueled oil's decline. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April lost $2.08 or 2.9 percent at $70.40 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 0.5 percent in the week.