Soft Start Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the seven-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 25 points or 1.5 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,590-point plateau although it's likely to hand back those gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with oil and technology stocks likely to drag the bourses lower. The European and U.S. markets finished with mild losses and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index rose 5.15 points or 0.32 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,590.09 after moving as low as 1,581.52.

Among the actives, Axiata soared 2.76 percent, while Celcomdigi surged 6.05 percent, CIMB Group gained 0.44 percent, Genting rallied 0.86 percent, IHH Healthcare increased 0.32 percent, IOI Corporation gathered 0.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 0.58 percent, Maxis spiked 2.32 percent, MISC sank 0.35 percent, MRDIY accelerated 2.11 percent, Petronas Chemicals lost 0.32 percent, PPB Group dipped 0.14 percent, Public Bank collected 0.50 percent, QL Resources was up 0.15 percent, RHB Capital perked 0.18 percent, Sime Darby improved 0.38 percent, SD Guthrie added 0.48 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.29 percent, Tenaga Nasional tumbled 1.15 percent, YTL Corporation jumped 1.77 percent, YTL Power rose 0.42 percent and Genting Malaysia, Maybank, Press Metal and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Friday but faded throughout the day and ended mildly under water.

The Dow shed 45.24 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 39,118.86, while the NASDAQ slumped 126.10 points or 0.71 percent to close at 17,732.60 and the S&P 500 sank 22.39 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,460.48.

For the week, the NASDAQ rose 0.2 percent but the Dow and the S&P 500 both eased 0.1 percent. However, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 posted substantial gains for the first half of 2024.

The early strength on Wall Street followed a Commerce Department report showing inflation in May matched estimates, generating renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The subsequent pullback by the markets may have reflected a negative reaction to a turnaround by treasury yields, which initially moved lower following the release of the data but subsequently rebounded firmly into positive territory.

Oil prices showed a modest move to the downside on Friday, coming down from a two-month high on profit taking. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dipped $0.20 or 0.2 percent to $81.54 a barrel.