Malaysia Bourse May Give Up Support At 1,500 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, shedding more than 20 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,500-point plateau and it may open in the red again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on trade war concerns after China announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in reaction to President Donald Trump's new levies. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are also expected to open under pressure.

The KLCI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and industrials, while the telecoms and plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 14.77 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 1,504.14 after trading between 1,500.90 and 1,515.74. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rallied 1.00 percent, while Axiata declined 1.62 percent, Celcomdigi jumped 1.12 percent, CIMB Group tumbled 1.68 percent, Gamuda tanked 4.48 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.59 percent, IOI Corporation was down 0.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.10 percent, Maxis sank 0.88 percent, Maybank eased 0.19 percent, MISC dropped 1.09 percent, Nestle Malaysia surged 4.14 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 5.75 percent, PPB Group fell 0.52 percent, Press Metal advanced 0.82 percent, Public Bank lost 0.68 percent, QL Resources and Hong Leong Financial both skidded 1.28 percent, RHB Bank slumped 1.59 percent, SD Guthrie retreated 1.84 percent, Sunway stumbled 2.02 percent, Telekom Malaysia slid 0.30 percent, Tenaga Nasional shed 0.74 percent, YTL Corporation plunged 4.50 percent, YTL Power surrendered 3.03 percent and MRDIY and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains brutal as the major averages opened with heavy losses and remained deep in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plummeted 2,231.07 points or 5.50 percent to finish at 38,314.86, while the NASDAQ tumbled 962.82 points or 5.82 percent to close at 15,587.79 and the S&P 500 plunged 322.44 points or 5.97 percent to end at 5,074.08.

The extended nosedive on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about a global trade war, triggered by the tariff polices Trump announced last week.

China announced a 34 percent tariff will be imposed on all imported goods from the U.S. as of April 10, while Canada and the European Union are also preparing countermeasures.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.

Crude oil prices showed another substantial move to the downside on Friday on continuing concerns about the impact a global trade war will have on fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery plunged $4.95 or 7.4 percent to $62 a barrel, a three-year low.