Mild Upside Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had slipped more than 15 points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,615-point plateau although it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat and directionless on conflicting leads over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, telecoms and plantation stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 14.96 points or 0.92 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,614.83 after peaking at 1,631.15.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slumped 1.67 percent, while Axiata tumbled 2.13 percent, Celcomdigi skidded 1.37 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.74 percent, Gamuda eased 0.19 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slid 0.47 percent, Maxis tanked 2.47 percent, Maybank sank 0.98 percent, MISC plummeted 4.24 percent, MRDIY stumbled 1.63 percent, Nestle Malaysia lost 0.84 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 2.85 percent, Petronas Gas added 0.34 percent, PPB Group shed 0.96 percent, Public Bank dropped 1.33 percent, QL Resources weakened 1.50 percent, Sime Darby dipped 0.43 percent, SD Guthrie surrendered 2.38 percent, Sunway retreated 2.08 percent, Telekom Malaysia was down 0.31 percent, YTL Corporation declined 1.83 percent, YTL Power rose 0.22 percent and IHH Healthcare, IOI Corporation, Press Metal, RHB Bank, Tenaga Nasional and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests little movement as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday, bounced back and forth across the line all day before ending mixed and largely unchanged.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following the release of mixed U.S. jobs data.

While payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector job growth slowed more than expected in December, the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in almost 11 months.

While the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting later in the day, they did not provide much insight into the outlook for interest rates other than to suggest officials plan to take a "careful approach" to future decisions.

Oil futures closed lower on Wednesday as a sharp increase in gasoline stockpiles and a stronger dollar weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.93 or 1.25 percent at $73.32 a barrel.