Rebound Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday snapped the four-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,575-point plateau although it may find renewed support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued solid momentum ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, telecoms, plantations and industrials.

For the day, the index shed 10.60 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 1,577.20 after trading between 1,575.67 and 1,586.52.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail tumbled 1.30 percent, while Axiata skidded 0.89 percent, Celcomdigi tanked 1.59 percent, CIMB Group declined 1.12 percent, Gamuda surrendered 1.38 percent, Hong Leong Financial rose 0.22 percent, IHH Healthcare eased 0.14 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dipped 0.30 percent, Maxis weakened 1.11 percent, MISC dropped 0.83 percent, MRDIY plummeted 2.31 percent, Nestle Malaysia and YTL Corporation both lost 0.42 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 1.90 percent, Petronas Dagangan added 0.31 percent, PPB Group slid 0.34 percent, Press Metal fell 0.40 percent, Public Bank stumbled 1.36 percent, QL Resources was down 0.22 percent, Sime Darby retreated 1.35 percent, Sunway shed 0.44 percent, Telekom Malaysia slumped 1.07 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.58 percent, YTL Power gained 0.25 percent and RHB Bank, SD Guthrie, IOI Corporation, Maybank, Hong Leong Bank and Petronas Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but climbed steadily as the day progressed, so they were all in the green by the session's end.

The Dow surged 408.34 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 44,565.07, while the NASDAQ added 44.34 points or 0.22 percent to close at 20,053.68 and the S&P 500 gained 32.34 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,118.71.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has help stocks largely offset the sell-off seen earlier this month.

Biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside as the day progressed, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.8 percent to its best closing level in almost four years.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims saw further upside last week.

Oil prices fell on Thursday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. fell less than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March closed down $0.82 or about 1.1 percent at $74.62 a barrel.