Malaysia Stock Market May Test Support At 1,500 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three consecutive trading days, shedding almost 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index new rests just beneath the 1,505-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns for an economic slowdown and an increase in interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financials, telecoms and plantations were mitigated by support from the glove makers.

For the day, the index lost 12.18 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 1,504.44 after trading between 1,502.91 and 1,519.68. Volume was 2.109 billion shares worth 1.533 billion ringgit. There were 426 decliners and 395 gainers.

Among the actives, Axiata plunged 3.85 percent, while CIMB Group and Tenaga Nasional both skidded 0.91 percent, Dialog Group plummeted 4.13 percent, Digi.com tumbled 2.40 percent, Genting fell 0.21 percent, Genting Malaysia stumbled 1.32 percent, Hartalega Holdings added 0.56 percent, IHH Healthcare retreated 1.54 percent, INARI slumped 1.04 percent, IOI Corporation lost 0.24 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Telekom Malaysia both dropped 0.35 percent, Maybank sank 0.34 percent, Maxis tanked 2.54 percent, MISC gained 0.44 percent, MRDIY tumbled 1.88 percent, Petronas Chemicals eased 0.11 percent, PPB Group declined 1.63 percent, Press Metal jumped 2.11 percent, Public Bank weakened 0.86 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.17 percent, Sime Darby rose 0.43 percent, Sime Darby Plantations surrendered 2.12 percent, Top Glove advanced 0.58 percent and Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.

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

The Dow tumbled 292.26 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 33.706.74, while the NASDAQ plummeted 260.08 points or 2.01 percent to close at 12,705.21 and the S&P 500 slumped 55.26 points or 1.29 percent to end at 4,228.48. For the week, the NASDAQ dove 2.6 percent, the S&P sank 1.2 percent and the Dow dipped 0.2 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the major averages well off their June lows to their best levels in almost four months.

Traders may also have been moving money out of stocks ahead of this week's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Remarks by Federal Reserve officials at the annual symposium are likely to be in focus, as traders look for additional clues about the pace of future interest rate hikes.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Friday but posted a weekly loss due to concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid fears of a possible recession in Europe. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September rose $0.27 or 0.3 percent at $90.77 a barrel.