Malaysia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost 7 points or 0.4 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,610-point plateau and it may remain stuck in neutral on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on easing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are likely to follow suit.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms. For the day, the index dipped 2.02 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 1,611.54 after trading between 1,606.44 and 1,617.02. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slid 0.32 percent, while AMMB Holdings increased 0.35 percent, Axiata and Gamuda both fell 0.39 percent, Celcomdigi stumbled 1.37 percent, CIMB Group dipped 0.14 percent, IHH Healthcare slipped 0.36 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was down 0.38 percent, Maxis skidded 1.04 percent, Maybank eased 0.10 percent, MISC slumped 0.89 percent, MRDIY tanked 1.21 percent, Nestle Malaysia jumped 1.96 percent, Petronas Chemicals gained 0.50 percent, Petronas Dagangan dropped 0.71 percent, Petronas Gas sank 0.54 percent, Press Metal rallied 0.81 percent, Public Bank shed 0.48 percent, QL Resources rose 0.24 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.15 percent, SD Guthrie retreated 1.12 percent, Telekom Malaysia lost 0.41 percent, Tenaga Nasional improved 0.61 percent, YTL Corporation climbed 1.20 percent, YTL Power added 0.51 percent and IOI Corporation, PPB Group, Sime Darby, Sunway and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher and stayed that way for much of the day before slumping late in the session to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow slipped 74.37 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 47,632.00, while the NASDAQ climbed 130.98 points or 0.55 percent to finish at a record 23,958.47 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.30 points or 0.00 percent to end at 6,890.59.

Early support came from the tech shares after Nvidia (NVDA) became the first company with a $5 trillion market capitalization.

The late-day weakness followed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank's monetary policy announcement. While the Fed lowered interest rates by another quarter point as expected, Powell's post-meeting remarks offset optimism for another rate cut in December.

Powell said a further reduction in rates in December is "not a foregone conclusion," noting Fed officials had "strongly differing views about how to proceed" at the final meeting of the year.

Highlighting the high level of uncertainty due to government shutdown delaying key data, Powell also said there's a "growing chorus" that feels the Fed should "wait a cycle" to continue cutting rates.

Crude oil prices bounced higher on Wednesday after a report from the Energy Information Administration showed a steep drop by U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.31 or 0.5 percent at $60.46 per barrel.