Malaysia Stock Market Crack Resistance At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has tracked higher in four straight trading days, improving more than 30 points or 2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,585-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology shares expected to fuel the rally. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly higher again on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, industrials and plantations, while the telecoms were mixed.

For the day, the index added 7.34 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,587.80 after trading between 1,581.40 and 1,590.81.

Among the actives, Axiata tumbled 1.32 percent, while Celcomdigi added 0.53 percent, CIMB Group soared 1.51 percent, Gamuda sank 0.68 percent, IHH Healthcare improved 0.28 percent, IOI Corporation accelerated 0.81 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 0.10 percent, Maxis climbed 0.56 percent, Maybank strengthened 0.78 percent, MISC gathered 0.42 percent, MRDIY slumped 1.14 percent, Nestle Malaysia eased 0.13 percent, Petronas Chemicals jumped 1.07 percent, Petronas Dagangan shed 0.62 percent, PPB Group perked 0.34 percent, Press Metal plummeted 3.28 percent, Public Bank collected 0.69 percent, QL Resources lost 0.43 percent, Sime Darby rose 0.45 percent, SD Guthrie increased 0.20 percent, Sunway surged 2.24 percent, Telekom Malaysia dropped 0.76 percent, Tenaga Nasional spiked 1.46 percent, YTL Corporation rallied 0.84 percent, YTL Power gained 0.50 percent and 99 Speed Mart Retail, RHB Bank, Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher and spent all day in the green, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 130.92 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 44,156.73, while the NASDAQ surged 252.56 points or 1.28 percent to close at 20,009.34 and the S&P 500 added 37.13 points or 0.61 percent to end at 6,086.37.

The strength on Wall Street came as investors reacted positively to upbeat earnings updates and corporate news, and on continued optimism about rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ was fueled by buoyant earnings and sales guidance by Netflix, as well as President Donald Trump's announcement of a $500 billion private-sector AI infrastructure investment plan involving Oracle, Open AI and Softbank.

Oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday, extending recent weakness on concerns about excess supply in the market due to the Trump administration's plan to maximize oil and gas production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $75.44 a barrel, extending losses to a fifth straight session.