Malaysia Stock Market Due For Support On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, slumping more than 25 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,585-point plateau and it's poised to stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is a mixed bag, with weakness among the financials and oil companies likely countered by support from the technology shares. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly lower again on Tuesday following losses from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and plantation stocks.

For the day, the index slipped 4.28 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 1,585.38 after trading between 1,582.35 and 1,594.71.

Among the actives, Axiata dropped 0.77 percent, while Celcomdigi lost 0.56 percent, Genting stumbled 1.04 percent, IHH Healthcare dipped 0.32 percent, IOI Corporation slid 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rallied 2.64 percent, Maxis tanked 1.69 percent, Maybank collected 0.30 percent, MISC added 0.59 percent, MRDIY advanced 1.05 percent, Petronas Chemicals tumbled 1.22 percent, PPB Group slumped 0.96 percent, Press Metal shed 0.69 percent, Public Bank sank 0.74 percent, QL Resources gained 0.46 percent, RHB Capital fell 0.54 percent, Sime Darby climbed 1.17 percent, SD Guthrie retreated 1.16 percent, Telekom Malaysia eased 0.30 percent, Tenaga Nasional jumped 2.04 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 4.36 percent, YTL Power plunged 4.30 percent and Genting Malaysia, CIMB Group and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains divergent as the major averages opened mixed and finished the same way.

The Dow tumbled 299.05 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 39,112.16, while the NASDAQ rallied 220.84 points or 1.26 percent to close at 17,717.65 and the S&P 500 gained 21.43 points or 0.39 percent to end at 5,469.30.

The session-long strength in the tech-heavy NASDAQ was fueled by a rebound of Nvidia stocks after recent losses. Meta Platforms, Alphabet, Apple Inc., Eli Lilly, Micron Technology also posted strong gains.

Boeing, Nike, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Pfizer, McDonalds Corporation, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Home Depot and Johnson & Johnson declined sharply, weighing on the Dow.

In economic news, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, which measures overall economic activity and inflationary pressure, rose in May for the first time in three months. Also, the Conference Board said consumer confidence in the U.S. eased slightly in June.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as traders booked some profits ahead of crucial U.S. inflation data due later in the week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down by $0.80 or nearly 1 percent at $80.83 a barrel.