Malaysia Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had slumped more than 20 points or 1.1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,710-point plateau and it may see additional support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive on easing tensions in the Middle East and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financial shares and telecoms were capped by weakness from the plantation stocks.

For the day, the index gained 12.07 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 1,713.09 after trading between 1,702.35 and 1,718.31.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Monday but quickly slumped and hugged the line for the rest of the day, ending mixed.

The Dow jumped 262.83 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 52,210.08, while the NASDAQ sank 43.74 points or 0.18 percent to close at 24,932.08 and the S&P 500 perked 1.20 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,413.18.

The initial strength on Wall Street came amid an extended pullback by the price of crude oil, which plummeted on Monday after the U.S. halted nearly two weeks of military attacks against Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $7.09 or 7.94 percent at $82.22 per barrel.

Treasury yields slumped along with the price of crude oil, easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week.

The subsequent pullback by the markets came amid substantial weakness among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 4.8 percent. Energy and computer hardware stocks also weighed.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods rebounded by much less than expected in the month of June.