Malaysia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 20 points or 1.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,465-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with growth concerns warring with interest rate optimism. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Thursday following weakness from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financials and plantations.

For the day, the index dipped 2.16 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,464.68 after trading between 1,460.46 and 1,465.16.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi stumbled 1.39 percent, while CIMB Group fell 0.34 percent, Genting added 0.23 percent, Genting Malaysia rallied 1.19 percent, Maxis shed 0.49 percent, MRDIY dropped 0.62 percent, Petronas Chemicals slid 0.27 percent, PPB Group perked 0.13 percent, Press Metal slumped 0.81 percent, Public Bank collected 0.24 percent, RHB Capital dipped 0.18 percent, Sime Darby Plantations skidded 0.68 percent, Telekom Malaysia eased 0.10 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.38 percent, Westports Holdings sank 0.57 percent and Maybank, MISC, IHH Healthcare, IOI Corporation, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Axiata, Dialog Group, Sime Darby, Petronas Dagangan and AMMB Holdings all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 45.74 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 34,945.47, while the NASDAQ rose 9.84 points or 0.07 percent to close at 14,113.67 and the S&P 500 perked 5.36 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,508.24.

A steep drop by shares of Walmart (WMT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) weighed on the Dow, while upticks by the NASDAQ and S&P came as the latest U.S. economic data added to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department released a report showing U.S. import and export prices both fell by more than expected in the month of October, capping off an encouraging week of inflation data.

A separate Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims climbed by much more than expected last week, while the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell more than expected in October.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on fears of a likely drop in energy demand after soft data from the U.S., Europe and Asia raised worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December tumbled $3.76 or 4.9 percent at $72.90 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will release Q3 figures for gross domestic product later today. GDP is expected to expand 3.3 percent on year, up from 2.9 percent in the three months prior.