Continued Consolidation Called For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping more than 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,445-point plateau and it's expected to tick lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets calls for continued consolidation, with energy, steel and financial stocks likely to lead the way lower. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the plantation stocks and mixed performances from the financials, glove makers and telecoms.

For the day, the index shed 7.26 points or 0.50 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,444.22 after peaking at 1,460.30. Volume was 2.265 billion shares worth 1.972 billion ringgit. There were 521 decliners and 327 gainers.

Among the actives, Axiata stumbled 1.05 percent, while CIMB Group rose 0.20 percent, Dialog Group skidded 0.93 percent, Digi.com spiked 2.34 percent, Genting lost 0.44 percent, Hartalega Holdings surged 3.73 percent, IHH Healthcare and Petronas Chemicals both sank 0.77 percent, INARI added 0.76 percent, IOI Corporation tumbled 1.54 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong tanked 2.23 percent, Maybank shed 0.69 percent, Maxis dropped 0.90 percent, MISC fell 0.42 percent, MRDIY advanced 0.98 percent, PPB Group jumped 1.02 percent, Press Metal soared 2.37 percent, Public Bank retreated 1.13 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.53 percent, Sime Darby plunged 2.29 percent, Telekom Malaysia gained 0.38 percent, Tenaga Nasional declined 1.24 percent, Top Glove plummeted 7.14 percent and Genting Malaysia and Sime Darby Plantations were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday, made back some ground as the day progressed but still ended well in the red.

The Dow dropped 253.88 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 30,775.43, while the NASDAQ tumbled 149.16 points or 1.33 percent to end at 11,028.74 and the S&P 500 sank 33.45 points or 0.88 percent to close at 3,785.38.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came amid lingering concerns about the global economic outlook and the possibility of a recession. Central bank chiefs have reaffirmed their resolve to pare inflation despite threats to economic growth.

A Commerce Department report provided further evidence of an economic slowdown, showing that personal spending increased less than expected in May.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower Thursday, extending the pullback seen in the previous session on lingering concerns about the outlook for demand amid the possibility of a recession. West Texas Intermediate for August delivery plunged $4.02 or 3.7 percent to $105.76 a barrel.