Malaysia Bourse May Give Up Support At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,600-point plateau although it's tipped to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative after strong U.S. employment data weighed heavily on the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets ended firmly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, losses from the plantations and a mixed picture from the telecoms.

For the day, the index perked 1.60 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,602.41 after trading between 1,599.71 and 1,605.74.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slumped 0.86 percent, while Axiata tumbled 1.75 percent, Celcomdigi rose 0.27 percent, CIMB Group climbed 0.86 percent, Gamuda and Maybank both perked 0.20 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.28 percent, IOI Corporation sank 0.52 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong retreated 1.22 percent, Maxis rallied 1.11 percent, MISC advanced 0.84 percent, Petronas Chemicals added 0.42 percent, Petronas Dagangan plummeted 3.05 percent, Petronas Gas lost 0.23 percent, PPB Group stumbled 1.61 percent, QL Resources and Hong Leong Financial both improved 0.22 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.79 percent, Sime Darby shed 0.45 percent, SD Guthrie dropped 0.61 percent, Sunway fell 0.22 percent, Tenaga Nasional dipped 0.14 percent, YTL Corporation surged 1.22 percent, YTL Power spiked 1.19 percent and Press Metal, Public Bank, Telekom Malaysia, MRDIY and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow plummeted 696.75 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 41,938.45, while the NASDAQ tumbled 317.27 points or 1.63 percent to close at 19,161.63 and the S&P 500 dropped 91.21 points or 1.54 percent to end at 5,827.04.

The weakness on Wall Street was the result of buoyant non-farm payroll data, which raised concerns that the Federal Reserve will likely hold interest rates at current levels or slow down the pace of reductions.

While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, the data is also likely to give the Federal Reserve confidence in its plan to gradually lower interest rates over the coming year.

Oil prices rose sharply on Friday, riding on the Biden Administration's decision to impose additional sanctions on Russia's oil exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $2.65 or 3.6 percent at $76.57 a barrel, the highest settlement in three months.