Malaysia Shares Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,405-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the telecoms and plantations and mixed performances from the financials

For the day, the index shed 5.99 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 1,406.10 after trading between 1,403.12 and 1,412.09.

Among the actives, Axiata plummeted 3.47 percent, while Genting plunged 2.56 percent, Petronas Chemicals tanked 2.35 percent, Genting Malaysia tumbled 1.94 percent, Press Metal retreated 1.83 percent, Dialog Group declined 1.33 percent, Celcomdigi stumbled 1.16 percent, Hong Leong Financial skidded 1.01 percent, Maxis climbed 0.99 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.95 percent, MISC advanced 0.85 percent, IHH Healthcare and Sime Darby Plantations both sank 0.68 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.65 percent, Maybank collected 0.57 percent, IOI Corporation fell 0.52 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.41 percent, CIMB Group dipped 0.19 percent, RHB Bank perked 0.18 percent and Hong Leong Bank, QL Resources, Nestle Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Public Bank and PPB Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all quickly turned higher. They pulled back from daily highs but still ended firmly in the green.

The Dow added 76.32 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 34,585.35, while the NASDAQ jumped 131.25 points or 0.93 percent to close at 14,244.95 and the S&P 500 rose 17.37 points or 0.39 percent to end at 4,522.79.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected recent upward momentum, as encouraging inflation data has added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

While the Fed is widely expected to raise rates by another quarter point, traders are hopeful that will mark the final rate hike.

On the U.S. economic front, the New York Federal Reserve released a report showing a pullback in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of July.

Oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand after data showed the Chinese economy grew at slower than expected pace in the second quarter. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.27 or 1.7 percent at $74.15 a barrel.