Malaysia Shares May Head South Again On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Monday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had slipped just 5 points or 0.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,600-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed consolidation on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key inflation data later this week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the entertainment companies and mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index rose 2.24 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 1,602.91 after trading between 1,600.43 and 1,604.80.

Among the actives, Axiata jumped 1.07 percent, while Celcomdigi slumped 0.73 percent, CIMB Group collected 0.44 percent, Genting surged 4.62 percent, Genting Malaysia soared 3.42 percent, IHH Healthcare fell 0.16 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong sank 0.44 percent, Maxis added 0.28 percent, MRDIY tumbled 1.67 percent, Petronas Chemicals and YTL Corporation both lost 0.29 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.90 percent, QL Resources shed 0.31 percent, RHB Capital perked 0.18 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rose 0.22 percent, YTL Power retreated 1.01 percent and Sime Darby, Press Metal, Public Bank, Maybank, MISC, Telekom Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional, IOI Corporation, Hong Leong Bank and Nestle Malaysia all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow sank 81.33 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 39,431,51, while the NASDAQ gained 47.37 points or 0.29 percent to end at 16,388.24 and the S&P 500 eased 1.26 points or 0.02 percent to close at 5,221.42.

The early strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from renewed optimism about an interest rate cut by Federal Reserve in the coming months.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as key inflation data due this week could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

Oil prices advanced on Monday amid expectations about the outlook for demand after OPEC decided to extend supply cuts into the second half of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.86 at $79.12 a barrel.