Malaysia Stock Market Poised To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday halted the six-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 35 points or 2.2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,475-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower thanks to rising recession fears. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, plantations and telecoms.

For the day, the index dropped 21.50 points or 1.44 percent to finish at 1,473.99 after trading between 1,473.80 and 1,488.54.

Among the actives, Axiata plunged 3.56 percent, while CIMB Group sank 1.72 percent, Dialog Group weakened 2.04 percent, Digi.com retreated 3.00 percent, Genting Malaysia climbed 1.12 percent, IHH Healthcare tumbled 3.38 percent, INARI gained 0.38 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 2.22 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 1.16 percent, Maybank rose 0.11 percent, Maxis stumbled 2.34 percent, MISC declined 3.07 percent, PPB Group shed 1.61 percent, Press Metal added 0.41 percent, Public Bank fell 0.93 percent, RHB Capital skidded 1.90 percent, Sime Darby plummeted 4.35 percent, Sime Darby Plantations surrendered 3.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia dropped 1.85 percent, Tenaga Nasional tanked 3.43 percent and Genting, MRDIY and Petronas Chemicals were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages shook off early support on Tuesday, quickly turning lower and spending the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow shed 1088 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 33,136.37, while the NASDAQ lost 79.50 points or 0.76 percent to end at 10,386.98 and the S&P 500 fell 15.36 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,824.14.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to get the New Year started on a positive note following a dismal 2022. For last year, the NASDAQ plummeted 33.1 percent, the S&P 500 lost 19.4 percent and the Dow sank 8.8 percent.

A report from the International Monetary Fund says about one third of the world economy will likely go into a recession this year. A rebound from treasuries also added to the negative sentiment.

A report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in the month of November.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to rising fears of a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $3.33 or 4.2 percent at $76.93 a barrel, a two-week low.