Malaysia Stock Market May See Additional Support On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had eased almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,375-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic ahead of this week's Federal Reserve's meeting. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday as the financials and plantations were mostly higher, while the telecoms were mixed.

For the day, the index perked 1.44 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,376.08 after trading between 1,373.08 and 1,381.26.

Among the actives, Axiata spiked 1.83 percent, while Celcomdigi declined 1.15 percent, CIMB Group jumped 1.02 percent, Dialog Group added 0.48 percent, Genting sank 0.48 percent, Genting Malaysia rallied 0.80 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.17 percent, Inari surged 2.05 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong perked 0.09 percent, Maxis advanced 0.99 percent, Maybank rose 0.23 percent, MISC lost 0.41 percent, MRDIY retreated 1.27 percent, Petronas Chemicals fell 0.31 percent, Press Metal shed 0.43 percent, Public Bank collected 0.26 percent, RHB Capital slumped 0.75 percent, Sime Darby tumbled 1.96 percent, Telekom Malaysia dropped 0.60 percent, Tenaga Nasional improved 0.66 percent and PPB Group and Sime Darby Plantations were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened firmly higher on Friday, slumped midday but ticked back into the green to end slightly higher.

The Dow added 43.18 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 33,876.78, while the NASDAQ rose 20.64 points or 0.16 percent to close at 13,259.14 and the S&P 500 perked 4.93 points or 0.11 percent to end at 4,298.86.

For the week, the S&P rose 0.4 percent, the Dow gained 0.3 percent and the NASDAQ perked 0.1 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders continued to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Thursday's report showing initial jobless claims jumped to their highest level since October 2021 last week added to the optimism about the Fed pausing its interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices slumped again on Friday, extending losses from the previous session on concerns about the outlook for demand ahead of several key central bank meetings this week. West Texas Intermediate for July delivery fell $1.12 or 1.6 percent to $70.17 a barrel.