Malaysia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market ticked lower again on Monday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,550-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious ahead of key economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The KLCI finished slightly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms. For the day, the index eased 1.51 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,547.60 after trading between 1,544.47 and 1,553.90.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings skidded 0.92 percent, while Axiata slumped 1.08 percent, Celcomdigi jumped 1.17 percent, CIMB Group collected 0.31 percent, Dialog Group plunged 4.48 percent, Genting retreated 1.44 percent, Genting Malaysia tumbled 1.73 percent, IHH Healthcare climbed 0.65 percent, Inari Amertron tanked 4.24 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 1.07 percent, Maxis shed 0.26 percent, Maybank lost 0.21 percent, MISC rose 0.13 percent, MRDIY surged 2.61 percent, Petronas Chemicals advanced 0.58 percent, PPB Group added 0.53 percent, Press Metal sank 0.43 percent, Public Bank dropped 0.45 percent, RHB Capital dipped 0.18 percent, Sime Darby declined 1.13 percent, Sime Darby Plantations plummeted 4.51 percent, Telekom Malaysia soared 1.86 percent, Tenaga Nasional rallied 0.71 percent and QL Resources and Petronas Dagangan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed, ending with mild losses.

The Dow shed 62.30 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 39,069.23, while the NASDAQ lost 20.57 points or 0.13 percent to close at 15,976.25 and the S&P 500 fell 19.27 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,069.53.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem be reluctant to make significant moves as they digest last week's gains, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record highs.

Traders were also cautious ahead of key inflation reports later this week from Germany, France and Spain - as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve's favored core measure of personal consumption expenditure prices.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a continued rebound in new home sales in the U.S. in January, although the increase fell short of estimates.

Oil prices pared early losses and climbed higher on Monday as continued attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea route raised concerns about supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.58 a barrel.