Malaysia Bourse May Extend Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday halted the seven-day wining streak in which it had gained almost 60 points or 4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,580-point plateau and it may inch lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents later today to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the plantations and telecoms, while the financials and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index slipped 5.55 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 1,581.05 after trading between 1,575.79 and 1,595.31.

Among the actives, Axiata stumbled 1.11 percent, while CIMB Group perked 0.14 percent, IHH Healthcare fell 0.14 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong retreated 0.90 percent, Maxis dropped 0.28 percent, Maybank sank 0.20 percent, MISC gained 0.26 percent, MRDIY plummeted 3.75 percent, Petronas Chemicals climbed 1.11 percent, Petronas Dagangan plunged 3.57 percent, Petronas Gas surrendered 1.16 percent, PPB Group tumbled 0.99 percent, Press Metal improved 0.53 percent, Public Bank collected 0.23 percent, QL Resources added 0.48 percent, RHB Bank slumped 0.77 percent, Sime Darby and SD Guthrie both skidded 0.60 percent, Telekom Malaysia lost 1.38 percent, Tenaga Nasional declined 0.87 percent, YTL Power tanked 1.63 percent and 99 Speed Mart Retail, AMMB Holdings, Celcomdigi, Nestle Malaysia, Gamuda, YTL Corporation, IOI Corporation and Sunway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 11.01 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 44,911.26, while the NASDAQ dipped 2.47 points or 0.01 percent to close at 21,710.67 and the S&P 500 rose 1.96 points or 0.03 percent to end at a record 6,468.54.

The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of July.

The hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data partly offset optimism about a September interest rate cut generated by the consumer price inflation data released earlier this week.

However, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently still indicating a 92.6 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower rates by a quarter point next month, which helped keep selling pressure relatively subdued.

Crude oil jumped on Thursday ahead of a crucial meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents later today in Alaska to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.32 or 2.11 percent at $63.97 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide Q2 data for GDP and current account later today. In the previous three months, GDP was up 4.4 percent on year and the current account showed a surplus of MYR16.70 billion.