Little Movement Expected For Malaysia Bourse

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 30 points or 2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,465-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and fairly flat, with many of the regional bourses due for profit taking after big recent gains. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The KLCI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financials, plantations and telecoms. For the day, the index advanced 14.74 points or 1.02 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,464.67 after moving as low as 1,452.29.

Among the actives, Axiata skyrocketed 3.83 percent, while Celcomdigi spiked 2.10 percent, CIMB Group climbed 1.40 percent, Dialog Group increased 0.94 percent, Genting soared 2.17 percent, Genting Malaysia surged 2.44 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.33 percent, IOI Corporation improved 1.26 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong picked up 0.09 percent, Maxis strengthened 1.49 percent, Maybank collected 0.77 percent, MRDIY rose 0.66 percent, Petronas Chemicals accelerated 2.09 percent, PPB Group lost 0.39 percent, Press Metal fell 0.20 percent, Public Bank jumped 1.67 percent, RHB Capital added 0.71 percent, Sime Darby rallied 1.71 percent, Sime Darby Plantations gained 0.68 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 1.37 percent, Tenaga Nasional and Westports Holdings both perked 0.30 percent and MISC was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests very mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Monday, slipped into the red late but managed to finish just above the unchanged line by the close.

The Dow rose 34.54 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 34,095.86, while the NASDAQ gained 40.50 points or 0.30 percent to close at 13,518.78 and the S&P 500 roe 7.64 points or 0.18 percent to end at 4,365.98.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to express optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last Wednesday combined with softer than expected jobs data last Friday has led to optimism that the central bank is done raising interest rates.

Treasuries showed a significant pullback during trading on Monday after moving sharply higher over the past few sessions. Bond prices came under pressure early in the session and saw further downside as the day progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 10.4 basis points to 4.662 percent.

A late round of profit taking following recent gains sent markets briefly into the red before a mild recovery.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday after Russia and Saudi Arabia confirmed that they will extend their voluntary production and supply cuts to the end of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.31 or 0.4 percent at $80.82 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see September numbers for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.2 percent on year after easing 0.3 percent in August.