Malaysia Bourse May Extend Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just shy of the 1,610-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over upcoming earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the retail and energy sectors were countered by weakness among the financial shares and plantation stocks.

For the day, the index rose 7.44 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,608.45 after trading between 1,600.55 and 1,609.94.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened in the green on Friday and continued to trend positively throughout the session, ending near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 423.35 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 51,654.95, while the NASDAQ added 172.87 points or 0.64 percent to end at 27,366.17 and the S&P 500 gained 46.18 points or 0.59 percent to close at 7,811.54. For the week, the S&P rallied 1.2 percent, the Dow collected 0.9 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.6 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders remained optimistic about the outlook for the artificial intelligence trade even after reports that OpenAI's annualized revenue missed estimates.

Strong corporate earnings expectations also have contributed to the renewed buying interest ahead of the release of key earnings news this week from the likes of financial giants Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC).

This week will also see the release of reports on consumer and producer price inflation that could impact expectations for the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Crude oil prices showed a lack of direction on Friday as traders await more concrete developments regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.33 or 0.4 percent to $91.82 a barrel.