Malaysia Bourse May Hand Back Tuesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,540-point plateau and it's likely to remain rangebound again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on renewed tariff concerns. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the industrials and telecoms, while the financials and plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 11.66 points or 0.76 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,538.64 after trading as low as 1,528.63.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings was up 0.19 percent, while Axiata gained 0.76 percent, Celcomdigi and Hong Leong Bank both improved 1.06 percent, Gamuda strengthened 1.48 percent, IHH Healthcare accelerated 2.24 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 0.93 percent, Maxis gathered 0.58 percent, Maybank advanced 1.26 percent, MISC expanded 1.44 percent, MRDIY rose 0.61 percent, Nestle Malaysia increased 0.92 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 3.96 percent, Petronas Dagangan jumped 1.96 percent, Petronas Gas fell 0.11 percent, PPB Group plummeted 4.51 percent, Press Metal spiked 2.46 percent, QL Resources stumbled 1.64 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.16 percent, SD Guthrie perked 0.0.42 percent, Sunway sank 0.84 percent, Telekom Malaysia climbed 1.33 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 0.91 percent, YTL Corporation rallied 1.59 percent, YTL Power soared 2.91 percent and 99 Speed Mart Retail, Sime Darby, IOI Corporation, CIMB Group and Public Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Tuesday but quickly turned lower and spent the balance of the day in the red, closing near session lows.

The Dow slipped 61.90 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 44,111.74, while the NASDAQ sank 137.03 points or 0.65 percent to end at 20,916.55 and the S&P 500 dropped 30.75 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,299.19.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street reflected ongoing trade concerns after President Donald Trump said he will be announcing new tariffs on semiconductors and chips as soon as next week. Trump said planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S. could reach as high as 250 percent.

Negative sentiment was also have been generated by a report from the Institute for Supply Management that unexpectedly showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth by U.S. service sector activity in the month of July.

Early in the session, stocks benefitted from a positive reaction to some of the latest earnings news, including upbeat quarterly results from software company Palantir (PLTR).

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid US pressure on India to stop buying oil from Russia, as well as OPEC's recent decision to boost production. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery slumped $1.05 or 1.58 percent to $65.24 per barrel.