Malaysia Bourse May Reclaim 1,600-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 30 points of 1.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just shy of the 1,600-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday as the financial shares, telecoms and industrials ended mostly in the red.

For the day, the index sank 12.77 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 1,598.93 after trading between 1,597.41 and 1,606.86. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail skidded 0.77 percent, while Axiata dipped 0.38 percent, Celcomdigi slumped 0.80 percent, CIMB Group tanked 2.66 percent, Gamuda gained 0.54 percent, Hong Leong Bank collected 0.30 percent, IHH Healthcare shed 0.68 percent, IOI Corporation tumbled 1.76 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.60 percent, Maxis slipped 0.27 percent, Maybank lost 0.60 percent, MISC slid 0.53 percent, MRDIY rallied 2.53 percent, Nestle Malaysia plummeted 2.96 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 2.70 percent, Petronas Dagangan was down 0.17 percent, Petronas Gas eased 0.11 percent, PPB Group fell 0.58 percent, Press Metal contracted 0.35 percent, Public Bank retreated 1.16 percent, RHB Bank dropped 0.76 percent, Sime Darby declined 0.94 percent, SD Guthrie rose 0.38 percent, Telekom Malaysia improved 0.71 percent, Tenaga Nasional surrendered 1.19 percent, YTL Corporation sank 0.74 percent, YTL Power stumbled 1.84 percent and AMMB Holdings, QL Resources and Sunway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 124.10 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 46,142.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 209.40 points or 0.94 percent to end at 22,470.72 and the S&P 500 gained 31.61 points or 0.48 percent to close at 6,631.96.

Technology stocks led the markets higher amid a spike by shares of Intel (INTC), with the chipmaker skyrocketing by 22.8 percent to its best closing level in over a year.

The rally by Intel came after the company announced a collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA) to jointly develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected last week. Also, the Conference Board said its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell more than expected in August.

Crude oil fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at a slowdown by the American economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.46 or 0.72 percent at $63.59 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide August figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In July, imports were up 0.6 percent on year and exports rose an annual 6.8 percent for a trade surplus of MYR15.00 billion.