Malaysia Stock Market May Snap Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 30 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,630-point plateau although it may find support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following the release of strong U.S. employment data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index sank 11.58 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 1,629.97 after trading between 1,625.35 and 1,639.29.

Among the actives, Axiata fell 0.41 percent, while Celcomdigi plunged 2.43 percent, CIMB Group and Public Bank both skidded 0.88 percent, Genting stumbled 0.96 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.26 percent, IHH Healthcare dipped 0.28 percent, IOI Corporation shed 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Sunway both slumped 0.95 percent, Maxis plummeted 5.68 percent, Maybank and Nestle Malaysia both slid 0.38 percent, MISC surrendered 1.91 percent, MRDIY declined 0.97 percent, Petronas Chemicals added 0.52 percent, PPB Group tumbled 1.64 percent, Press Metal sank 0.61 percent, QL Resources lost 0.42 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.65 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.82 percent, SD Guthrie eased 0.21 percent, Telekom Malaysia tanked 2.28 percent, YTL Power climbed 1.12 percent and Tenaga Nasional, YTL Corporation and Petronas Dagangan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained well in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 341.15 points or 0.81 percent to finish at a record 42,352.75, while the NASDAQ rallied 219.35 points or 1.22 percent to end at 18,137.85 and the S&P 500 advanced 51.13 points or 0.90 percent to close at 5,751.

The support on Wall Street came after the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 254,000 jobs in September after rising by an upwardly revised 159,000 jobs in August.

The stronger than expected jobs growth eased concerns about the economic outlook, but dashed hopes of aggressive rate cuts in the coming months.

Following the jobs data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 91.2% the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in November and just a 8.8 percent chance of another half point rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher on Friday on concerns about a possible attack on Iran's oil facilities by Israel, while upbeat U.S. jobs data also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.67 or 0.91 percent at $74.38 a barrel, a five-week high. WTI crude futures gained more than 9 percent in the week.