Win Streak May End For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, picking up almost 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious ahead of key inflation data coming later this week. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index rose 5.19 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 1,451.00 after trading between 1,441.63 and 1,452.47.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi plunged 2.28 percent, while CIMB Group rallied 1.45 percent, Dialog Group gained 0.45 percent, Genting strengthened 0.94 percent, IOI Corporation and Public Bank both rose 0.24 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 0.09 percent, Maxis stumbled 1.01 percent, Maybank improved 0.56 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.46 percent, Petronas Chemicals lost 0.29 percent, PPB Group climbed 0.84 percent, Press Metal advanced 0.60 percent, RHB Capital and AMMB Holdings both added 0.53 percent, Sime Darby spiked 1.83 percent, Sime Darby Plantations accelerated 1.57 percent, Telekom Malaysia and Hong Leong Bank both collected 0.20 percent, Tenaga Nasional increased 0.42 percent, Westports Holdings sank 0.57 percent and Genting Malaysia, IHH Healthcare, Axiata, MISC and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, made back some ground as the day progressed but still finished solidly in the red.

The Dow dropped 158.64 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 35,314.49, while the NASDAQ slumped 110.07 points or 0.79 percent to close at 13,884.32 and the S&P 500 sank 19.06 points or 0.42 percent to end at 4,499.38.

The soft start on Wall Street may have been in response to the downward revision in the ratings of ten smaller banks by Moody's.

The markets got a bit of a boost when the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected U.S. GDP growth to rise by 1.9% this year; it also forecast a bump in the price forecast for oil prices.

In economic news, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to a three-month low of $65.5 billion in June, from a downwardly revised $68.3 billion in May. Also, the National Federation of Independent Business said the NFIB Small Business Optimism index rose for a third straight month in July.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Tuesday following an upgrade to this year's GDP growth projections in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.98 at $82.92 a barrel.