Malaysia Stock Market May Hand Back Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had eased less than a single point. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,750-point plateau although it may head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement with tech concerns pitted against easing crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead, if little changed.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the industrials, weakness from the plantations and a mixed picture from the financials and telecoms.

For the day, the index rose 12.21 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 1,748.54 after trading between 1,735.70 and 1,753.22.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but spent most of the day under water and finished slightly in the red.

The Dow dropped 113.52 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 53,463.88, while the NASDAQ dipped 21.10 points or 0.08 percent to close at 26,130.20 and the S&P 500 eased 1.58 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,675.70.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of AI giant Nvidia's (NVDA) second quarter results after the close of Wednesday trading. Nvidia then handily beat the street, although some analysts were looking for more.

Traders were also looking ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday; traders shrugged off the Commerce Department's report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased slightly more than expected in July.

Crude oil prices inched lower on Wednesday on reports of Iran and Oman nearing an agreement to establish a temporary transit corridor through the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.22 or 0.27 percent at $82.14 per barrel.