Malaysia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 20 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,730-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on tech weakness, rising oil prices and Middle East concerns. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and plantation stocks, while the telecoms and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index added 9.26 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 1,731.45 after trading between 1,719.56 and 1,735.67.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened under water and spent the entire session in the red, ending near session lows.

The Dow slumped 406.55 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 52,146.42, while the NASDAQ tumbled 361.70 points or 1.40 percent to close at 25,520.24 and the S&P 500 sank 76.08 points or 1.01 percent to end at 7,457.69.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.9 percent, the S&P 500 dove 1.6 percent and the Dow sank 0.9 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as technology stocks extended Thursday's losses, led by a 7.3 percent drop by shares of Netflix (NFLX) after the stream giant reported Q2 results in line with estimates but offered disappointing guidance.

But the weakness spread to the broader markets as the day progressed amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, which surged well above $80 a barrel amid concerns about the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday as the U.S.-Iran conflict grows wider, with the U.S. targeting Iran civil infrastructures. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $3.65 or 4.62 percent at $82.60 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will release June figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In May, imports were up 14.1 percent on year and exports rose an annual 45.3 percent for a trade surplus of MYR40.40 billion.