Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For Malaysia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,425-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on renewed concerns over the health of the financial systems. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financials and telecoms were dented by weakness from the financials.

For the day, the index rose 3.08 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 1,425.19 after trading between 1,420.84 and 1,427.00.

Among the actives, Axiata gained 0.33 percent, while CIMB Group sank 0.58 percent, Dialog Group jumped 0.88 percent, Digi.com strengthened 0.68 percent, Genting rallied 0.86 percent, Genting Malaysia improved 0.37 percent, IHH Healthcare climbed 0.52 percent, INARI fell 0.43 percent, IOI Corporation accelerated 1.57 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong spiked 2.05 percent, Maxis rose 0.23 percent, Maybank lost 0.57 percent, MISC perked 0.14 percent, MRDIY dropped 1.24 percent, PPB Group soared 2.72 percent, Press Metal tumbled 2.69 percent, RHB Capital collected0.18 percent, Sime Darby advanced 0.47 percent, Sime Darby Plantations surged 3.94 percent, Telekom Malaysia increased 0.20 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 0.34 percent and Petronas Chemicals, Public Bank, QL Resources, Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday but accelerated deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plunged 344.57 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 33,530.83, while the NASDAQ tumbled 238.05 points or 1.98 percent to close at 11,799.16 and the S&P 500 sank 65.4 points or 1.58 percent to end at 4,071.63.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected a negative reaction to quarterly results from First Republic (FRC), with the regional bank plunging by 49.4 percent. The steep drop came after the company reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, renewing concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

Results for UPS Inc. (UPS) also disappointed, while General Motors (GM), PepsiCo (PEP), McDonald's (MCD) and 3M (MMM) reported better than expected quarterly earnings.

In economic news, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence deteriorated more than expected in April. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales unexpectedly spiked to their highest level in a year in March.

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday amid concerns over the outlook for energy demand due to fears of a global economic slowdown, while the dollar's rise weighed as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.69 or 2.2 percent to $77.07 per barrel.