Malaysia Stocks May Be Stuck In Neutral On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 8 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,435-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key inflation data later this week. The European and U.S. markets finished mixed and mostly flat and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion. The KLCI finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the financials and mixed performances from the plantations and telecoms. For the day, the index perked 2.70 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 1,433.74 after trading between 1,430.86 and 1,437.50.

Among the actives, Axiata rose 0.33 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 0.58 percent, Genting tumbled 1.06 percent, Genting Malaysia shed 0.72 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.51 percent, IOI Corporation sank 0.78 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 0.47 percent, Maxis plummeted 4.79 percent, Maybank collected 0.11 percent, MISC gathered 0.27 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.27 percent, Petronas Chemicals soared 1.56 percent, PPB Group and Petronas Gas both increased 0.12 percent, Press Metal perked 0.20 percent, RHB Capital spiked 1.09 percent, Sime Darby Plantations lost 0.45 percent, Telekom Malaysia surged 2.63 percent, Tenaga Nasional improved 0.78 percent and Dialog Group, Digi.com, INARI, Public Bank and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened flat on Monday and spent much of the day in negative territory before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 55.69 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 33,618.69, while the NASDAQ added 21.50 points or 0.18 percent to close at 12,256.92 and the S&P 500 perked 1.87 points or 0.05 percent to end at 4,138.12.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead to the release of key inflation data later in the week.

The reports on consumer and producer price inflation, which are due to be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. wholesale inventories were unexpectedly unchanged in March versus expectations for a slight increase.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand thanks to last week's fairly encouraging non-farm payrolls data. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.82 or 2.6 percent at $73.16 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will release March numbers for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.5 percent on year, slowing from 3.6 percent in February.