Malaysia Shares May Hand Back Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,535-point plateau although it may tick lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on new U.S. tariffs, plus an extremely weak American jobs report. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial and construction stocks, while the industrials and telecoms were mixed and the plantations were soft.

For the day, the index jumped 20.10 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 1,533.35 after trading between 1,519.17 and 1,534.48.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings spiked 2.77 percent, while Axiata slid 0.37 percent, Celcomdigi sank 0.78 percent, CIMB Group soared 3.66 percent, Gamuda surged 4.25 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.45 percent, IOI Corporation shed 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 0.82 percent, Maxis gained 0.29 percent, Maybank rallied 2.24 percent, MISC climbed 1.88 percent, MRDIY tanked 1.82 percent, Nestle Malaysia dipped 0.32 percent, Petronas Chemicals stumbled 2.06 percent, Petronas Dagangan rose 0.19 percent, Petronas Gas slumped 0.56 percent, PPB Group retreated 1.59 percent, Press Metal eased 0.19 percent, Public Bank strengthened 1.90 percent, QL Resources declined 0.94 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.98 percent, SD Guthrie lost 0.42 percent, Sunway accelerated 2.54 percent, Tenaga Nasional jumped 2.15 percent, YTL Corporation fell 0.40 percent and YTL Power, 99 Speed Mart Retail, Sime Darby and Telekom Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday and remained deep in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 542.42 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 43,588.58, while the NASDAQ tanked 472.27 points or 2.24 percent to close at 20,650.13 and the S&P 500 dropped 101.38 points or 1.60 percent to end at 6,238.01.

For the week, the Dow plummeted 2.9 percent, while the S&P sank 2.4 percent and the NASDAQ was down 2.2 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, as the White House announced new tariff rates on dozens of countries.

The new tariffs range from just 10 percent to as high as 41 percent, and the White House said a 40 percent levy will be imposed on goods that have been transshipped to evade applicable duties.

Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to the closely watched Labor Department report showing much weaker than expected job growth in the month of July.

Crude oil prices fell Friday on demand concerns for potentially reduced consumption amid new tariffs from the U.S. government. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.92 or 2.77 percent at $67.34 per barrel.