Mild Upside Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 20 points or 1.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,515-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, supported by oil companies and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the telecoms and industrials, while the financials and plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 9.78 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 1,513.60 after trading between 1,509.40 and 1,515.87.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rose 1.01 percent, while Axiata soared 4.09 percent, Celcomdigi accelerated 2.37 percent, CIMB Group added 1.16 percent, Gamuda rallied 2.29 percent, IHH Healthcare sank 0.72 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 1.35 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 0.57 percent, Maxis spiked 2.84 percent, Maybank picked up 0.59 percent, MISC perked 0.14 percent, MRDIY surged 4.35 percent, Nestle Malaysia gained 1.14 percent, Petronas Chemicals increased 1.39 percent, PPB Group improved 1.74 percent, Press Metal rose 0.20 percent, Public Bank dropped 0.89 percent, QL Resources gathered 0.65 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.89 percent, Sime Darby jumped 2.02 percent, SD Guthrie and Telekom Malaysia both perked 0.62 percent, Sunway advanced 1.36 percent, Tenaga Nasional was up 0.29 percent, YTL Corporation strengthened 1.95 percent and YTL Power climbed 1.78 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages hugged both sides of the line on Tuesday before a late push bumped them into the green at the close.

The Dow added 4.18 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 42,587.50, while the NASDAQ climbed 83.26 points or 0.46 percent to close at 18,271.86 and the S&P 500 rose 9.08 points or 0.16 percent to end at 5,776.65.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid ongoing uncertainty about President Donald Trump's tariff plans following recent reports he plans to take a more narrow approach to new tariffs.

Trump has recently made many conflicting remarks about his tariff plans, leading to considerable uncertainty on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Conference Board showing consumer confidence in the U.S. deteriorated by more than expected in the month of March.

Oil prices dipped on Tuesday on reports Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a partial ceasefire covering the Black Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed lower by $0.11 at $69.00 a barrel.