Soft Start Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping nearly 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,490-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and telecoms.

For the day, the index eased 2.66 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 1,491.21 after trading between 1,487.52 and 1,494.32.

Among the actives, Axiata rallied 1.19 percent, while CIMB Group collected 0.33 percent, Genting slumped 1.28 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.48 percent, IHH Healthcare fell 0.17 percent, Maxis and Petronas Dagangan both skidded 1.04 percent, Maybank eased 0.11 percent, MISC declined 1.36 percent, MRDIY dropped 0.69 percent, Petronas Chemicals tumbled 1.74 percent, PPB Group perked 0.14 percent, Press Metal plunged 3.00 percent, Public Bank sank 0.23 percent, Sime Darby soared 2.47 percent, Sime Darby Plantations advanced 0.45 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.34 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.19 percent, YTL Corporation spiked 1.31 percent, YTL Power surged 3.56 percent and QL Resources, RHB Capital, IOI Corporation, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Celcomdigi and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday and stayed that way, although they managed to finish well off session lows.

The Dow dropped 94.45 point or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,266.67, while the NASDAQ slumped 88.72 points or 0.59 percent to close at 14,855.62 and the S&P 500 lost 26.77 points or 0.56 percent to end at 4,739.21.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates amid recent concerns the Federal Reserve won't lower rates as early as previously hoped.

Adding to worries the Fed will hold off on cutting rates, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. retail sales increased by more than expected in December.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve also showed an unexpected uptick in U.S. industrial production last month.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, although concerns about the outlook for oil demand and a firm dollar limited the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February rose $0.16 at $72.56 a barrel.