Soft Start Likely For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market saw renewed support on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 5 points or 0.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,445-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on apprehension over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, while the telecoms and plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index rose 4.56 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 1,444.67 after trading between 1,441.52 and 1,446.75.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi surged 2.09 percent, while Dialog Group sank 0.47 percent, Genting advanced 0.68 percent, Genting Malaysia strengthened 0.77 percent, IHH Healthcare increased 0.51 percent, IOI Corporation rallied 1.01 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 0.44 percent, Maxis jumped 1.24 percent, Maybank collected 0.22 percent, MISC perked 0.14 percent, MRDIY improved 0.65 percent, Petronas Chemicals climbed 0.74 percent, PPB Group accelerated 1.14 percent, Press Metal gathered 0.21 percent, RHB Capital rose 0.18 percent, Sime Darby added 0.48 percent, Sime Darby Plantations soared 1.62 percent, Telekom Malaysia gained 0.20 percent, Tenaga Nasional was up 0.10 percent, Westports Holdings spiked 1.45 percent and Public Bank, CIMB Group, Axiata, AMMB Holdings and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but quickly turned lower and finished deep under water.

The Dow plunged 373.56 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 34,099.42, while the NASDAQ tumbled 257.06 points or 1.87 percent to close at 13,463.97 and the S&P 500 sank 59.70 points or 1.35 percent to end at 4,376.31.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to Q2 results from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which reported strong earnings and guidance after markets close on Wednesday.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with concerns about the outlook for interest rates continuing to weigh on the markets ahead of the economic symposium later today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled more than expected in July. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday on expectations that Saudi Arabia will extend its production cut into the next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.16 or 0.2 percent at $79.05 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide July numbers for consumer prices later today; in June, inflation was up 0.2 percent on month and 2.4 percent on year.