Steady Start Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 15 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just shy of the 1,670-point plateau although it may find traction on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is uncertain amidst geopolitical concerns in South America. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the somewhat overbought Asian bourses are expected to open in mixed fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and plantation stocks, while the telecoms and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 10.35 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 1,669.76 after trading between 1,666.17 and 1,675.20. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail shed 0.79 percent, while AMMB Holdings lost 0.46 percent, Axiata soared 2.38 percent, Celcomdigi jumped 0.94 percent, CIMB Group stumbled 1.82 percent, Gamuda sank 0.80 percent, IHH Healthcare retreated 1.71 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong skidded 1.00 percent, Maxis and Sunway both climbed 0.53 percent, Maybank fell 0.38 percent, MISC declined 1.28 percent, MRDIY spiked 1.31 percent, Nestle Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional both added 0.44 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 3.86 percent, Petronas Dagangan advanced 0.50 percent, Petronas Gas gained 0.33 percent, PPB Group tanked 3.80 percent, Press Metal dropped 0.98 percent, Public Bank slumped 1.10 percent, QL Resources surged 4.22 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.52 percent, Sime Darby plummeted 4.65 percent, SD Guthrie contracted 1.40 percent, Telekom Malaysia tumbled 1.49 percent, YTL Corporation improved 0.49 percent, YTL Power rallied 0.60 percent and IOI Corporation was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages spent most of Friday's session hugging the line for much of the day before finishing mostly in the green.

The Dow climbed 319.09 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 48,382.39, while the NASDAQ dipped 6.37 points or 0.03 percent to close at 23,235.63 and the S&P 500 added12.97 points or 0.19 percent to end at 6,858.47.

For the week, the NASDAQ dropped 1.5 percent, the S&P sank 1.0 percent and the Dow lost 0.7 percent.

The lackluster performance by the broader markets came as some traders remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday.

Geopolitical concerns may weigh on sentiment after the U.S. carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela. That country's leader, President Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, had been captured and flown out of Venezuela.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Friday ahead of Sunday's OPEC meeting, with West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery dipping $0.12 or 0.2 percent to $57.30. On Sunday, OPEC decided to keep output levels unchanged, as expected. For 2025, crude fell almost 20 percent.