Additional Upside Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 25 points or 1.7 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,590-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat, with bargain hunting expected among especially the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, telecoms and industrials, while the plantation stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index rallied 20.68 points or 1.32 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,588.71 after moving as low as 1,565.46.

Among the actives, Axiata accelerated 2.44 percent, while Celcomdigi surged 3.18 percent, CIMB Group perked 0.61 percent, IHH Healthcare eased 0.14 percent, IOI Corporation gained 1.05 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dipped 0.19 percent, Maxis improved 1.46 percent, Maybank rallied 2.29 percent, MISC was up 0.14 percent, MRDIY spiked 2.67 percent, Nestle Malaysia stumbled 1.69 percent, Petronas Chemicals soared 2.70 percent, PPB Group strengthened 2.18 percent, Press Metal shed 0.40 percent, Public Bank climbed 2.02 percent, RHB Bank collected 1.53 percent, Sime Darby jumped 2.19 percent, SD Guthrie increased 1.45 percent, Sunway gathered 0.65 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 1.94 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 1.34 percent, YTL Corporation picked up 0.53 percent, YTL Power rose 0.97 percent and 99 Speed Mart Retail, Gamuda and QL Resources were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages hugged the line on Wednesday, finishing mixed and roughly flat as investors waited until after close for results from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).

The Dow stumbled 188.04 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 43,433.12, while the NASDAQ added 48.88 points or 0.26 percent to close at 19,075.26 and the S&P 500 perked 0.81 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,956.06.

Wall Street saw some early bargain hunting following recent weakness in the markets, but mostly investors were waiting on the NVIDIA results.

After the bell, NVIDIA unveiled Q4 earnings that increased from last year, beat estimates slightly and provided positive guidance. That fueled choppy but not negative trade after hours.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in January.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.