Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, collecting more than 30 points or 2 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,730-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index climbed 18.82 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 1,729.81 after trading between 1,713.42 and 1,730.72. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail sank 0.85 percent, while AMMB Holdings soared 3.33 percent, Axiata strengthened 1.32 percent, Celcomdigi shed 0.64 percent, CIMB Group improved 1.15 percent, Gamuda gained 0.48 percent, IHH Healthcare skyrocketed 5.15 percent, IOI Corporation climbed 1.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.31 percent, Maxis and QL Resources both fell 0.54 percent, Maybank collected 1.21 percent, MISC dropped 0.95 percent, MRDIY lost 0.61 percent, Petronas Chemicals slumped 1.01 percent, Petronas Dagangan eased 0.09 percent, Petronas Gas jumped 1.82 percent, PPB Group plunged 3.16 percent, Press Metal added 0.79 percent, Public Bank vaulted 1.44 percent, RHB Bank rallied 1.80 percent, Sime Darby expanded 1.28 percent, SD Guthrie advanced 1.22 percent, Sunway surged 4.78 percent, Telekom Malaysia increased 1.08 percent, Tenaga Nasional was up 0.28 percent, YTL Corporation accelerated 2.31 percent, YTL Power spiked 2.79 percent and Nestle Malaysia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 768.11 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 46,225.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 327.11 points or 1.46 percent to close at 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 sank 91.39 points or 1.36 percent to end at 6,624.70.

The weakness early in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in February.

Following that early pullback, stocks saw further downside in late-day trading following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

Powell said the U.S. is seeing "some progress on inflation" but "not as much as we had hoped." While Fed officials' latest projections predict a quarter point rate cut this year, Powell warned that "you won't see the rate cut" if there isn't further progress on inflation.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after Iraq said it has resumed oil production, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by going through Turkey. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery eased $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.39 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will release February figures for imports, exports, trade balance and consumer prices later today. In January, imports were up 5.3 percent on year and exports rose an annual 19.6 percent for a trade surplus of MYR21.40 billion. Consumer prices were up 0.1 percent on month and 1.6 percent on year in the previous month.