Malaysia Stock Market May Reclaim Support At 1,500 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking almost a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index new rests just beneath the 1,500-point plateau although it may find traction on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to slightly higher, with easing recession fears offset by interest rate concerns. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the telecoms, support from the financials and mixed performances from the plantations and glove makers.

For the day, the index dipped 5.52 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 1,496.03 after trading between 1,490.41 and 1,501.58. Volume was 2.19 billion shares worth 1.32 billion ringgit. There were 463 decliners and 323 gainers.

Among the actives, Axiata tumbled 1.67 percent, while CIMB Group added 0.57 percent, Dialog Group lost 0.45 percent, Digi.com shed 0.55 percent, Genting skidded 1.05 percent, Genting Malaysia sank 0.68 percent, IHH Healthcare slid 0.31 percent, INARI climbed 1.03 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.24 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 0.44 percent, Maybank eased 0.11 percent, Maxis tanked 2.12 percent, MISC declined 1.66 percent, MRDIY plummeted 3.57 percent, Petronas Chemicals and Petronas Dagangan both dropped 0 .80 percent, PPB Group was down 0.24 percent, Press Metal stumbled 1.25 percent, Public Bank collected 0.22 percent, RHB Capital gained 0.34 percent, Sime Darby slumped 0.85 percent, Telekom Malaysia dipped 0.18 percent, Tenaga Nasional retreated 1.42 percent, Top Glove plunged 2.48 percent and Hartalega Holdings and Sime Darby Plantations were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages were unable to hold solid early gains, eventually hugging the line and finishing mixed.

The Dow rose 29.07 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 32,832.54, while the NASDAQ dipped 13.10 points or 0.10 percent to end at 12,644.46 and the S&P 500 eased 5.13 points or 0.12 percent to close at 4,140.06.

The early strength on Wall Street extended a recent upward trend; easing concerns about a potential recession may have contributed to the continued upward move following last week's much stronger than expected jobs data.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as the strong jobs data has increased the likelihood of another 75-basis point interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next month.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant bets ahead of the release of closely watched U.S. inflation data later this week.

Crude oil prices recovered after early losses and settled sharply higher on Monday as data showed a significant increase in oil purchases by China so far this month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.75 or 2 percent at $90.76 a barrel.