Profit Taking May Weigh On Malaysia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 40 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,675-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and plantations.

For the day, the index gained 22.95 points or 1.39 percent to finish at 1,675.24 after trading between 1,657.77 and 1,681.37.

Among the actives, Axiata added 0.82 percent, while Celcomdigi accelerated 3.88 percent, CIMB Group surged 5.67 percent, Genting jumped 2.78 percent, Genting Malaysia improved 1.58 percent, IHH Healthcare perked 0.16 percent, IOI Corporation rallied 2.86 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong strengthened 2.64 percent, Maxis advanced 2.13 percent, Maybank collected 1.50 percent, MISC lost 0.35 percent, MRDIY shed 0.48 percent, Petronas Chemicals soared 4,64 percent, PPB Group sank 0.82 percent, Press Metal tanked 4.11 percent, Public Bank climbed 2.56 percent, QL Resources slumped 1.66 percent, RHB Capital spiked 4.05 percent, Sime Darby plummeted 4.31 percent, SD Guthrie rose 0.44 percent, Sunway plunged 4.17 percent, Telekom Malaysia dropped 0.88 percent, Tenaga Nasional gained 0.57 percent, YTL Corporation tumbled 3.73 percent and YTL Power surrendered 3.33 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and mostly remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 159.08 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 41,091.42, while the NASDAQ sank 198.79 points or 1.12 percent to end at 17,556.03 and the S&P 500 lost 33.62 points or 0.60 percent to close at 5,592.18.

The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected anxiety ahead of the release of market leader Nvidia's (NVDA) fiscal second quarter results after the close of trading.

After the markets closed, Nvidia showed a profit for its second quarter that increased from last year and beat estimates.

Stocks were also under pressure as traders looked ahead to Friday's Commerce Department report on personal income and spending in July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.

Crude oil futures dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, and on data showing a much smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $1.01 or 1.34 percent at $74.52 a barrel.