Malaysia Bourse May Hand Back Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market rebounded on Thursday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index new sits just above the 1,480-point plateau, although it's expected to open under water on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid lingering uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The European and U.S. markets finished mostly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, weakness from the plantations and a mixed picture from the telecoms.

For the day, the index gained 6.35 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,483.27 after trading between 1,473.21 and 1,487.27.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rallied 3.32 percent, while Axiata climbed 1.08 percent, Celcomdigi jumped 2.01 percent, CIMB Group improved 0.75 percent, Gamuda eased 0.26 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.44 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slumped 0.99 percent, Maxis was down 0.29 percent, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional gained 0.30 percent, MISC advanced 0.99 percent, MRDIY soared 5.84 percent, Nestle Malaysia surged 5.92 percent, Petronas Chemicals spiked 3.26 percent, PPB Group dropped 0.69 percent, Press Metal slipped 0.41 percent, Public Bank collected 0.70 percent, Sime Darby fell 0.49 percent, SD Guthrie sank 0.65 percent, Telekom Malaysia dipped 0.30 percent, YTL Corporation lost 0.55 percent, YTL Power shed 0.63 percent and QL Resources, RHB Bank, IOI Corporation, Sunway and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and finished largely the same way, with a downside bias.

The Doe slumped 527.16 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 39,142.23, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.71 points or 0.13 percent to close at 16,286.45 and the S&P 500 rose 7.00 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,282.70.

The markets are closed for Good Friday; for the holiday-shortened week, the S&P retreated 1.5 percent, the NASDAQ stumbled 2.6 percent and the Dow declined 2.7 percent.

The steep drop by the Dow reflected a nosedive by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH), which plummeted 22.4 percent after the company reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings and cut its full-year profit forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. pulled back much more than expected in March.

Crude oil futures moved sharply higher on Thursday amid ongoing concerns about sanctions on Iranian oil exports. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery spiked $2.21 or 3.5 percent to $64.68 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide March numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today, plus preliminary Q1 GDP data. Imports are expected to rise 2.3 percent on year, easing from 5.5 percent in February. Exports are called higher by an annual 3.3 percent, down from 6.2 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at MYR13.80 billion, up from MYR12.60 billion a month earlier. GDP was up 5.0 percent on year in the fourth quarter of 2024.