Renewed Selling Pressure Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Monday snapped the three-day losing streak in which it had eased just 3 points. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,500-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the plantations and telecoms. For the day, the index perked 1.84 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 1,499.39 after trading between 1,494.15 and 1,500.95. Among the actives, Axiata retreated 1.64 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 0.70 percent, Dialog Group tumbled 1.86 percent, Digi.com rallied 1.17 percent, Genting plunged 2.75 percent, Genting Malaysia declined 1.37 percent, IHH Healthcare was up 0.17 percent, INARI lost 0.37 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 1.29 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and AMMB Holdings both sank 0.73 percent, Maybank collected 0.46 percent, Maxis soared 1.75 percent, MISC climbed 0.97 percent, MRDIY skidded 1.01 percent, Petronas Chemicals fell 0.35 percent, Petronas Gas surged 3.53 percent, Press Metal improved 0.38 percent, Public Bank rose 0.24 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.85 percent, Sime Darby Plantations spiked 1.40 percent, Tenaga Nasional shed 0.42 percent and PPB Group, RHB Capital and Telekom Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel.