Malaysia Shares May Find Support On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slipping more than 10 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,625-point plateau although it may find traction on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates, and on support from technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mostly up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantations stocks and telecoms. For the day, the index dipped 2.53 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 1,627.50 after trading between 1,621.17 and 1,628.15. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rose 0.35 percent, while AMMB Holdings advanced 0.86 percent, Axiata jumped 1.14 percent, Celcomdigi climbed 1.09 percent, CIMB Group dipped 0.13 percent, Gamuda tumbled 1.48 percent, IHH Healthcare and YTL Corporation both retreated 1.10 percent, IOI Corporation sank 0.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rallied 1.48 percent, Maxis gathered 0.27 percent, Maybank collected 0.50 percent, MISC perked 0.14 percent, MRDIY dropped 0.59 percent, Nestle Malaysia soared 1.68 percent, Petronas Chemicals declined 0.93 percent, Petronas Dagangan gained 0.44 percent, Petronas Gas eased 0.11 percent, PPB Group surged 2.81 percent, Press Metal lost 0.33 percent, Public Bank shed 0.46 percent, QL Resources added 0.46 percent, RHB Bank fell 0.15 percent, SD Guthrie increased 0.77 percent, Sunway improved 1.04 percent, Telekom Malaysia slumped 0.70 percent, Tenaga Nasional skidded 0.60 percent, YTL Power stumbled 2.38 percent and Sime Darby was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but moved generally higher through the day, although the Dow slipped back under water at the close.

The Dow eased 1.20 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 46,601.78. while the NASDAQ jumped 255.01 points or 1.12 percent to close at 23,043.38 and the S&P 500 gained 39.13 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,753.72.

The strength on Wall Street reflected a notable advance by shares of AI darling Nvidia (NVDA), which surged to a record high on reports of increased demand.

Stocks saw continued strength even after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September revealed participants expressed a range of views about the likely future path of monetary policy.

Most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year, the Fed said, although some noted financial conditions warrant a cautious approach in the consideration of future policy changes.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday, extending gains from the past two sessions after OPEC said it would affect only a modest hike in production next month. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.89 or 1.44 percent at $62.62 per barrel.