Malaysia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,525-point plateau although investors may cash in on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly directionless amidst a lack of catalysts, with oil and biotechnology stocks likely to fall under pressure. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and flat and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KLCI finished slightly higher again on Friday as gains from the financials were capped by weakness from the telecoms and mixed performances from the industrials and plantations.

For the day, the index rose 4.92 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 1,525.86 after trading between 1,522.97 and 1,529.52.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail and QL Resources both lost 0.45 percent, while AMMB Holdings advanced 0.79 percent, Axiata and Celcomdigi both slumped 0.78 percent, CIMB Group rose 0.15 percent, Gamuda surged 3.50 percent, IHH Healthcare improved 0.61 percent, IOI Corporation tumbled 1.04 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 1.19 percent, Maxis shed 0.56 percent, Maybank eased 0.10 percent, MISC dipped 0.26 percent, MRDIY sank 0.61 percent, Nestle Malaysia and PPB Group both gained 0.21 percent, Petronas Chemicals rallied 1.20 percent, Petronas Dagangan tanked 2.30 percent, Petronas Gas added 0.22 percent, Press Metal climbed 1.18 percent, Public Bank soared 1.41 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.32 percent, Sime Darby plummeted 3.53 percent, Sunway spiked 1.40 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.30 percent and Tenaga Nasional, YTL Corporation, YTL Power and SD Guthrie were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but quickly turned lower before ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 142.31 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 44,342.19, while the NASDAQ rose 10.06 points or 0.05 percent to close at 20,895.66 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.57 points or 0.01 percent to end at 6,296.79.

For the week, the NASDAQ jumped 1.5 percent the S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent and the Dow dipped 0.1 percent.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came on profit taking after the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 reached new record intraday highs at the open.

The pullback came amid a slump by shares of Netflix (NFLX), after the company reported better than expected second quarter results but warned its operating margin in the second half will be lower than the first half.

Crude oil prices turned lower on Friday after OPEC's demand forecast prompted concerns of a production surplus. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.20 at $67.34 per barrel.