Malaysia Bourse May Give Up Support At 1.600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,615-point plateau and it's likely to see continued consolidation on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on persistent concerns about an AI bubble. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses also figure to open to the downside.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, plantations, industrials and telecoms.

For the day, the index fell 13.37 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 1,614.06 after trading between 1,613.76 and 1,627.32. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail and Press Metal both slid 0.31 percent, while AMMB Holdings slumped 0.85 percent, Axiata contracted 1.09 percent, Celcomdigi plunged 3.88 percent, CIMB Group stumbled 2.10 percent, IOI Corporation retreated 1.22 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 0.39 percent, Maxis eased 0.24 percent, MRDIY added 0.66 percent, Nestle Malaysia dipped 0.27 percent, Petronas Chemicals tanked 2.93 percent, Petronas Dagangan surrendered 2.71 percent, Petronas Gas tumbled 2.05 percent, PPB Group shed 0.69 percent, Public Bank declined 1.16 percent, QL Resources sank 0.70 percent, RHB Bank lost 0.43 percent, Sime Darby plummeted 4.88 percent, Sunway dropped 0.73 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 0.83 percent, Tenaga Nasional skidded 0.75 percent, YTL Corporation gained 0.41 percent and YTL Power, Maybank, MISC, Gamuda, IHH Healthcare and SD Guthrie were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 498.50 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 46,091.74, while the NASDAQ stumbled 275.23 points or 1.21 percent to close at 22,432.85 and the S&P 500 sank 55.09 points or 0.83 percent to end at 6,617.32.

Weakness among technology stocks continued to weigh on Wall Street amid an extended decline by market leader and AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) as traders look ahead to the release of the chipmaker's quarterly results later today.

The strength of Nvidia's results and its guidance could have a significant impact on the markets amid recent concerns about an AI bubble.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a significant rebound by new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of August.

Crude oil prices soared on Tuesday as the end of the U.S. government shutdown has accelerated expectations of brisk demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.90 or 1.49 percent at $60.80 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see October figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In September, imports were up 7.3 percent on year and exports rose an annual 12.2 percent for a trade surplus of MYR19.90 billion.