Malaysia Stock Market May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,400-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing concerns over the health of financial sectors. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, plantation stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index shed 11.28 points or 0.80 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,399.70 after peaking at 1,411.67.

Among the actives, Axiata lost 0.33 percent, while CIMB Group shed 0.38 percent, Dialog Group plunged 2.16 percent, Digi.com surrendered 1.61 percent, Genting tumbled 1.32 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.16 percent, IHH Healthcare sank 0.52 percent, IOI Corporation plummeted 2.58 percent, Maybank skidded 0.71 percent, Maxis weakened 1.00 percent, MISC gained 0.42 percent, MRDIY added 0.61 percent, Petronas Chemicals tanked 1.91 percent, Press Metal dropped 0.64 percent, Public Bank declined 1.27 percent, RHB Capital slumped 1.09 percent, Sime Darby Plantations fell 0.24 percent, Telekom Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional both eased 0.21 percent and PPB Group, Sime Darby, INARI, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and QL Resources were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages shook off early weakness, improving as the day progressed to finish solidly in the green.

The Dow climbed 132.33 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 32,237.53, while the NASDAQ added 36.56 points or 0.31 percent to close at 11,823.96 and the S&P 500 rose 22.27 points or 0.56 percent to end at 3,970.99.

For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent, the NASDAQ climbed 1.7 percent and the S&P gained 1.4 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street came on renewed concerns about the health of the banking sector. U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) moved sharply lower in early trading amid a spike by the German lender's credit default swaps, while Credit Suisse (CS) and UBS Group (UBS) also came under pressure.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders felt the banking concerns may have been overdone amid optimism the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns that rising interest rates might hurt growth and result in a drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.70 or 1 percent at $69.26 a barrel.