Malaysia Stocks May Remain Stuck In Neutral On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,660-point plateau and it may continue to spin its wheels again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key U.S. jobs data later today. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the financials, plantations and telecoms.

For the day, the index fell 5.42 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 1,664.82 after trading between 1,663.18 and 1,677.46.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi perked 0.13 percent, while CIMB Group was up 0.12 percent, Genting rose 0.47 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.61 percent, IHH Healthcare advanced 0.78 percent, IOI Corporation climbed 1.03 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong increased 0.19 percent, Maxis strengthened 1.58 percent, MISC improved 0.72 percent, MRDIY shed 0.49 percent, Petronas Chemicals rallied 2.19 percent, PPB Group gained 0.56 percent, Press Metal added 0.62 percent, Public Bank fell 0.21 percent, QL Resources soared 2.94 percent, RHB Capital jumped 1.66 percent, Sime Darby lost 0.40 percent, SD Guthrie tumbled 1.95 percent, Sunway tanked 2.68 percent, Telekom Malaysia gathered 0.15 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.54 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted by the 10 percent daily limit, YTL Power plunged 5.14 percent and Axiata and Maybank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains conflicted as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and hugged the line for most of the day, finally ending little changed.

The Dow shed 219.22 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 40,755.75, while the NASDAQ added 43.36 points or 0.25 percent to close at 17,127.66 and the S&P 500 sank 16.66 points or 0.30 percent to end at 5,503.41.

The mixed performance on Wall Street followed the release of mixed readings on employment ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

Economists expect employment to add 160,000 jobs in August after rising by 114,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to ease to 4.2 percent in August from 4.3 percent in July, which was its highest level since October 2021.

Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of August.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday due to concerns about the outlook for demand, although the downside was limited by reports that OPEC has postponed plans to boost production next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $0.05 at $69.15 a barrel, the lowest settlement in about nine months