Malaysia Stock Market May Head South Again On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 7 points or 0.5 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,480-point plateau although it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, telecoms and plantation stocks.

For the day, the index advanced 13.05 points or 0.89 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,483.17 after trading as low as 1,471.64.

Among the actives, Axiata skyrocketed 3.08 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 1.22 percent, Dialog Group increased 0.87 percent, Digi.com sank 0.52 percent, Genting improved 1.37 percent, Genting Malaysia strengthened 1.53 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.34 percent, INARI jumped 1.86 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong picked up 0.48 percent, Maybank collected 0.23 percent, Maxis was up 0.52 percent, MISC lost 0.42 percent, MRDIY dropped 0.97 percent, Petronas Chemicals rose 0.24 percent, PPB Group perked 0.68 percent, Press Metal rallied 1.83 percent, Public Bank spiked 2.07 percent, RHB Capital added 0.70 percent, Sime Darby surged 2.28 percent, Sime Darby Plantations soared 2.35 percent, Telekom Malaysia accelerated 1.89 percent, Tenaga Nasional climbed 1.41 percent and Top Glove and Hartalega Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and stayed that way before tumbling after the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The Dow dropped 142.29 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,966.35, while the NASDAQ sank 85.93 points or 0.76 percent to close at 11,170.89 and the S&P 500 lost 24.33 points or 0.61 percent to end at 3,995.32.

The lower close on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to slow the pace of interest rate increases but still signaled further rate hikes ahead.

After raising interest rates by 75 basis points at four consecutive meetings, the Fed announced its decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points to a target range of 4.25 to 4.50 percent.

But the central bank reiterated that it anticipates ongoing increases in rates will be appropriate. The economic projections provided along with the announcement now suggest the Fed expects rates to be raised higher than forecast in September.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, lifted by an upward revision in demand forecast by the International Energy Agency due to the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $77.28 a barrel.