Malaysia Bourse May See Additional Support

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 40 points or 2.7 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,580-point plateau and it may extend its gains again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as uncertainty about U.S. trade policies continues to weigh. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the industrials, weakness from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and plantations.

For the day, the index perked 1.12 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 1,583.51 after trading between 1,573.44 and 1,583.67.

Among the actives, Axiata lost 0.46 percent, while Celcomdigi soared 2.56 percent, CIMB Group slumped 0.96 percent, Gamuda dropped 0.63 percent, IHH Healthcare perked 0.14 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 0.30 percent, MISC slid 0.26 percent, MRDIY retreated 1.20 percent, Nestle Malaysia eased 0.24 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 2.71 percent, Petronas Dagangan rose 0.29 percent, Petronas Gas climbed 0.68 percent, PPB Group shed 0.48 percent, Press Metal accelerated 1.76 percent, Public Bank collected 0.67 percent, QL Resources fell 0.42 percent, RHB Bank sank 0.59 percent, Sunway rallied 1.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia stumbled 1.69 percent, Tenaga Nasional dipped 0.28 percent, YTL Corporation added 0.45 percent, YTL Power spiked 1.90 percent and Sime Darby, SD Guthrie, 99 Speed Mart Retail, Maxis, Maybank, IOI Corporation and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened in the green but spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finally ending mixed.

The Dow slumped 89.37 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 42,051.06, while the NASDAQ rallied 136.72 points or 0.72 percent to close at 19,146.81 and the S&P 500 rose 6.03 points or 0.10 percent to end at 5,892.58.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess the recent rally by the markets, which has seen the S&P 500 rebound strongly from its early April lows to turn positive for 2025.

While trade deals between the U.S. and China and the U.K. have helped ease concerns about President Donald Trump's trade policies, uncertainty about the eventual outcome continues to hang over the markets.

Traders also were reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of a slew of U.S. economic data on Thursday, including producer prices, retail sales and industrial production. A speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is also likely to attract attention.

Crude oil prices slipped again on Wednesday, after data showed that U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly jumped last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery shed 0.80 or 1.27 percent to 62.87 per barrel.