Malaysia Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, adding almost 15 points or 1 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,615-point plateau although the rally may stall on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with profit taking likely to cap any upside. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and plantation stocks.

For the day, the index rose 5.51 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 1,616.62 after trading between 1,611.93 and 1,619.45.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi added 0.50 percent, while CIMB Group collected 0.29 percent, Genting advanced 0.64 percent, Genting Malaysia climbed 0.74 percent, IHH Healthcare rallied 0.97 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 0.98 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 0.53 percent, Maxis and MRDIY both spiked 2.76 percent, MISC rose 0.36 percent, Petronas Chemicals jumped 1.45 percent, PPB Group shed 0.39 percent, Press Metal tumbled 2.99 percent, QL Resources fell 0.15 percent, RHB Capital perked 0.18 percent, Sime Darby Plantations gained 0.45 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.47 percent, YTL Corporation surged 4.66 percent, YTL Power soared 4.05 percent and Sime Darby, Public Bank, Maybank, Telekom Malaysia, Axiata and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed and fairly flat and finished much the same.

The Dow climbed 134.19 points or 0.34 percent to finish at a record 40,003.59, while the NASDAQ slipped 12.33 points or 0.07 percent to close at 16,685.97 and the S&P 500 rose 6.17 points or 0.12 percent to end at 5,303.27.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.1 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.5 percent and the Dow shot up 1.2 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves as they digest recent strength in the markets, which saw the major averages reach new record highs.

In economic news, the Conference Board noted a continued decrease by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of April.

Oil prices rose on Friday amid easing inflation, data showing a drop in inventories, and hopes of interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June climbed to $80.06 a barrel, gaining $0.79 or more than 1 percent. WTI crude futures gained 2.3 percent in the week.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see April figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to climb 16.4 percent on year, up from 12.5 percent in March. Exports are called higher by an annual 13.4 percent following the 0.8 percent contraction in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at MYR11.70 billion, down from MYR12.80 billion a month earlier.