Rebound Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped almost 15 points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,670-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be positive, despite several of the regional bourses already at record closing highs. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to at least open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the plantations and industrials were mitigated by support from the financials and a mixed picture from the telecoms.

For the day, the index shed 7.97 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 1,672.35 after trading between 1,667.82 and 1,679.26. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail gained 0.26 percent, while AMMB Holdings slipped 0.31 percent, Axiata shed 0.78 percent, Celcomdigi surged 5.20 percent, CIMB Group plunged 3.03 percent, Gamuda advanced 0.82 percent, Hong Leong Bank collected 0.09 percent, IHH Healthcare declined 1.14 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Petronas Dagangan both slumped 1.00 percent, Maxis spiked 2.38 percent, Maybank rallied 1.33 percent, MISC and MRDIY both lost 0.65 percent, Nestle Malaysia soared 3.98 percent, Petronas Chemicals stumbled 2.59 percent, Petronas Gas eased 0.11 percent, Press Metal and YTL Corporation both skidded 0.98 percent, Public Bank sank 0.88 percent, RHB Bank climbed 1.03 percent, Sime Darby added 0.49 percent, SD Guthrie fell 0.53 percent, Sunway tumbled 1.92 percent, Telekom Malaysia tanked 1.91 percent, Tenaga Nasional retreated 1.16 percent, YTL Power dropped 0.90 percent and PPB Group, QL Resources and IOI Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened in the green on Tuesday and trended higher through the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 484.90 points or 0.99 percent to finish at a record high 49,462.08, while the NASDAQ climbed 151.35 points or 0.65 percent to end at 23,547.17 and the S&P 500 gained 42.77 points or 0.62 percent to close at 6,944.82, also a record.

The Dow benefitted from a sharp increase by shares of Amazon (AMZN) after it announced it is rolling out Alexa.com to Alexa+ Early Access customers in what is seen as an effort to more directly compete with ChatGPT and Gemini.

The continued advance by the broader markets came despite a lack of major catalysts, as traders look ahead to the release of several key U.S. economic reports in the coming days.

The highlight of the week may be the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday. That data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as investors booked profits while analyzing the consequences of Saturday's swift U.S. military operation in Venezuela on global oil supply. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $1.11 or 1.90 percent at $57.21 per barrel.