Malaysia Stock Market Expected To Be Rangebound On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day slide in which it had slipped more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,410-point plateau although it may tick lower again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and the health of the banking sector. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index advanced 12.49 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 1,409.09 after trading between 1,398.42 and 1,409.23.

Among the actives, Axiata eased 0.34 percent, while CIMB Group and Petronas Dagangan both advanced 0.97 percent, Dialog Group strengthened 1.32 percent, Digi.com rose 0.23 percent, Genting fell 0.44 percent, Genting Malaysia gathered 0.39 percent, IHH Healthcare perked 0.17 percent, INARI gained 0.41 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.48 percent, Maybank collected 0.83 percent, Maxis jumped 1.52 percent, MISC lost 0.70 percent, Petronas Chemicals soared 1,91 percent, PPB Group accelerated 1.57 percent, Press Metal surged 2.99 percent, Public Bank improved 1.29 percent, RHB Capital climbed 1.10 percent, Sime Darby rallied 1.42 percent, Sime Darby Plantations skyrocketed 3.37 percent, Telekom Malaysia spiked 1.90 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.74 percent and IOI Corporation and MRDIY were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday, but they all headed south throughout the session and ended in the red.

The Dow shed 37.83 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 32,394.25, while the NASDAQ sank 52.76 points or 0.45 percent to end at 11,716.08 and the S&P 500 fell 6.26 points or 0.16 percent to close at 3,971.27.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates amid a continued increase in treasury yields as the 10-year yield climbed further off last Friday's six-month closing low.

In economic news, the Conference Board unexpectedly reported a slight improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in March.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Tuesday on easing concerns about global banking sector woes, lifting the most active oil futures contract to a two-week closing high. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $73.20 a barrel.