Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,590-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with oil and technology stocks likely to weigh on the markets. The European markets were up and the Asian bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, industrials, telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index rose 5.28 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 1,590.24 after trading between 1,584.62 and 1,594.40.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail tanked 2.00 percent, while AMMB Holdings jumped 0.92 percent, Axiata expanded 0.37 percent, Celcomdigi stumbled 2.12 percent, CIMB Group strengthened 0.82 percent, IHH Healthcare rose 0.44 percent, IOI Corporation accelerated 1.57 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gathered 0.41 percent, Maxis slumped 0.86 percent, Maybank collected 0.20 percent, MISC sank 0.77 percent, Nestle Malaysia added 0.55 percent, Petronas Chemicals spiked 1.92 percent, Petronas Dagangan improved 0.61 percent, Petronas Gas gained 0.53 percent, PPB Group rallied 1.02 percent, Press Metal perked 0.18 percent, QL Resources increased 0.48 percent, RHB Bank advanced 0.62 percent, Sime Darby surged 3.53 percent, Sunway soared 2.32 percent, Telekom Malaysia was up 0.14 percent, Tenaga Nasional climbed 0.73 percent, YTL Corporation shed 0.74 percent, YTL Power dropped 0.92 percent and Gamuda, SD Guthrie, MRDIY, Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and spent most of the day in the red, although the Dow peeked up above the line at the end.

The Dow rose 10.45 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 44,922.27, while the NASDAQ tumbled 314.82 points or 1.46 percent to end at 21,314.95 and the S&P 500 sank 37.78 points or 0.59 percent to close at 6,411.37.

The slump by the NASDAQ came amid weakness in the tech sector, with shares of Nvidia (NVDA) plunging by 3.5 percent following reports that the company is developing a new AI chip for China.

On the other hand, the Dow benefitted from a surge by shares of Home Depot (HD), as the home improvement retailer shot up 3.2 percent after the company maintained its full-year guidance despite missing on Q2 results.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later today and the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium that gets underway on Thursday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium on Friday, with remarks potentially impacting the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil declined on Tuesday amid supply side concerns as OPEC continues to unwind 2.2 million barrels per day in voluntary cuts by its member nations. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.07 or 1.69 percent at $62.35 per barrel.