Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has ticked higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,590-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses re likely to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the telecoms, weakness from the industrials and a mixed picture from the financials and plantations.

For the day, the index rose 3.94 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 1,590.75 after trading between 1,585.21 and 1,590.80. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail retreated 1.19 percent, while AMMB Holdings slumped 0.90 percent, Axiata surged 4.80 percent, Celcomdigi and Petronas Gas both increased 0.54 percent, CIMB Group climbed 0.70 percent, Gamuda fell 0.36 percent, IHH Healthcare rallied 2.31 percent, IOI Corporation lost 0.51 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.50 percent, Maxis accelerated 0.84 percent, Maybank dropped 0.70 percent, MISC rose 0.14 percent, MRDIY tumbled 1.27 percent, Nestle Malaysia sank 0.62 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 3.17 percent, Petronas Dagangan tanked 1.43 percent, Press Metal jumped 1.26 percent, Public Bank collected 0.23 percent, QL Resources strengthened 0.71 percent, RHB Bank shed 0.60 percent, Sime Darby spiked 1.89 percent, SD Guthrie improved 0.59 percent, Sunway stumbled 1.31 percent, Telekom Malaysia gained 0.29 percent, Tenaga Nasional advanced 0.61 percent, YTL Corporation soared 2.76 percent and YTL Power and PPB Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and trended generally downward before finishing on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow stumbled 220.42 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 45,490.92, while the NASDAQ rose 6.57 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,886.06 and the S&P 500 added 19.43 points or 0.30 percent to end at 6,532.04.

The early strength on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing a modest decrease in U.S. producer prices in August. The data added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates by at next week's monetary policy meeting.

Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation later today - which may also have a significant effect on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe, along with inflation data from the U.S. that has reinforced interest rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.07 or 1.71 percent at $63.70 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide July numbers for industrial production later today; in June, production was up 3.0 percent on year.