No Relief Yet For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, slumping more than 65 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,400-point plateau and it's looking at another hostile lead for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is brutal on growing fears of a recession and rising interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index shed 4.39 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,397.50 after trading between 1,395.81 and 1,410.76. Volume was 2.277 billion shares worth 1.861 billion ringgit. There were 499 decliners and 343 gainers.

Among the actives, Axiata skidded 0.75 percent, while CIMB Group gained 0.78 percent, Dialog Group advanced .00 percent, Digi.com tanked 1.45 percent, Genting rallied 2.07 percent, Genting Malaysia lost 0.36 percent, Hartalega Holdings plummeted 3.66 percent, IHH Healthcare dipped 0.17 percent, INARI climbed 1.19 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong improved 0.87 percent, MISC strengthened 1.47 percent, MRDIY declined 1.01 percent, Petronas Chemicals rose 0.24 percent, PPB Group perked 0.37 percent, Public Bank tumbled 1.41 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.72 percent, Sime Darby sank 0.47 percent, Sime Darby Plantations jumped 1.72 percent, Telekom Malaysia was up 0.18 percent, Tenaga Nasional plunged 1.79 percent, Top Glove retreated 0.85 percent and Maybank, Maxis and Press Metal were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deeply in the red, although they closed off of sessions lows.

The Dow tumbled 458.13 points or 1.54 percent to finish at 29,225.61, while the NASDAQ plunged 314.13 points or 2.84 percent to close at 10,737.51 and the S&P 500 dropped 78.57 points or 2.11 percent to end at 3,640.47.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on Wednesday's gains, as the buying interest generated by the Bank of England's bond market intervention quickly evaporated. The moves by the BoE contributed to a pullback by bond yields and the U.S. dollar, inspiring traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels. But bond yields moved back to the upside, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note partly offsetting Wednesday's 25.9 basis point plunge.

A Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell to a five-month low last week also weighed on the markets. While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, traders may view the data as giving the Federal Reserve confidence that it can continue to aggressively raise interest rates.

Adding to the negative sentiment on Wall Street, data from Freddie Mac showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.70 percent in the week ending September 29th, up from 6.29 percent the week before.

Crude oil prices fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday before closing lower on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amidst a possible global recession. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery slid $0.92 or 1.1 percent to $81.23 per barrel.