Malaysia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 10 points or 0.7 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,435-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cloudy and fairly flat amidst a lack of catalysts. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials and mixed performances from the plantations and telecoms.

For the day, the index added 7.76 points or 0.54 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,435.89 after moving as low as 1,426.50.

Among the actives, Axiata gained 0.33 percent, while CIMB Group rallied 0.77 percent, Dialog Group soared 1.27 percent, Digi.com improved 0.46 percent, Genting increased 0.43 percent, Genting Malaysia added 0.38 percent, IHH Healthcare was up 0.17 percent, INARI advanced 0.41 percent, IOI Corporation lost 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gathered 0.37 percent, Maybank jumped 0.92 percent, MISC strengthened 0.70 percent, MRDIY spiked 1.23 percent, Petronas Chemicals fell 0.27 percent, PPB Group climbed 0.48 percent, Press Metal surged 3.41 percent, Public Bank collected 0.25 percent, RHB Capital rose 0.18 percent, Sime Darby Plantations accelerated 1.16 percent, Telekom Malaysia slid 0.20 percent, Tenaga Nasional shed 0.54 percent and Maxis, Sime Darby and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be mixed as the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, the NASDAQ opened lower and stayed that way and the S&P 500 hugged the line all day and finished barely in the red.

The Dow added 98.27 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 33,684.79, while the NASDAQ shed 52.48 points or 0.43 percent to close at 12,031.88 and the S&P 500 eased 0.17 points or 0.00 percent to end at 4,108.94.

A lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports in the coming days.

The Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in the month of March is due to be released later today and could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices surged Tuesday on optimism for additional Chinese economic stimulus after soft inflation data from China created room for its central bank to potentially ease its monetary policy. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery surged $1.79 to $81.53 a barrel.