Malaysia Bourse May Add To Its Winnings On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market rebounded on Wednesday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 15 points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,585-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with strength likely from the oil and technology sectors. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to also move to the upside.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as the financial shares and industrials were mostly higher, while the plantations were soft.

For the day, the index improved 6.32 points or 0.40 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,587.91 after trading as low as 1,576.75. Among the actives, AMMB Holdings sank 0.55 percent, while Axiata accelerated 2.33 percent, CIMB Group advanced 0.81 percent, Gamuda increased 0.36 percent, IHH Healthcare and Tenaga Nasional both gained 0.30 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.26 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 0.30 percent, Maybank collected 0.41 percent, MISC strengthened 1.61 percent, MRDIY climbed 1.30 percent, Nestle Malaysia jumped 1.75 percent, Petronas Chemicals stumbled 2.99 percent, Petronas Dagangan spiked 3.09 percent, PPB Group surged 5.71 percent, Press Metal expanded 1.42 percent, Public Bank tanked 2.04 percent, QL Resources shed 0.48 percent, RHB Bank added 0.31 percent, Sime Darby skyrocketed 17.28 percent, SD Guthrie lost 0.40 percent, Sunway soared 3.54 percent, Telekom Malaysia tumbled 1.82 percent, YTL Corporation improved 1.14 percent, YTL Power rallied 2.20 percent and Celcomdigi, Maxis, 99 Speed Mart Retail and Petronas Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but moved largely to the upside throughout the day and ended with modest gains.

The Dow climbed 147.16 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 45,565.23, while the NASDAQ added 45.87 points or 0.21 percent to close at 21,590.14 and the S&P 500 rose 15.46 points or 0.24 percent to end at a record 6,481.40.

The modest strength on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the release of highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA). After the markets closed, NVIDIA reported earnings that increased from the same period last year and beat estimates.

Traders were also reluctant to make big moves ahead of Friday's Commerce Department report on personal income and spending for July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 87.2 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday after U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.83 or 1.33 percent at $64.08 per barrel.