Little Movement Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,560-point plateau and it's likely to be rangebound again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky and flat ahead of key economic data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, plantations and telecoms.

For the day, the index improved 11.20 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 1,558.80 after trading between 1,545.16 and 1,559.02.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings fell 0.23 percent, while Axiata surged 4.01 percent, Celcomdigi gained 0.46 percent, CIMB Group rose 0.31 percent, Genting spiked 2.30 percent, Genting Malaysia soared 2.82 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.16 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 0.09 percent, Maxis strengthened 1.59 percent, MISC eased 0.13 percent, MRDIY rallied 1.91 percent, Petronas Chemicals sank 0.72 percent, PPB Group perked 0.13 percent, Press Metal improved 0.64 percent, Public Bank collected 0.22 percent, QL Resources climbed 1.36 percent, RHB Capital and Tenaga Nasional both increased 0.53 percent, Sime Darby advanced 1.15 percent, Sime Darby Plantations jumped 1.65 percent, YTL Corporation skyrocketed 8.40 percent, YTL Power accelerated 2.22 percent and Maybank and Telekom Malaysia both were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and ended little changed and on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow slumped 96.82 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 38,972.41, while the NASDAQ added 59.05 points or 0.37 percent to close at 16,035.30 and the S&P 500 rose 8.65 points or 0.17 percent to end at 5,078.18.

Traders stuck to the sidelines ahead of the release of some key economic data later this week, including a closely watched inflation reading.

The inflation data could have a notable impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Fed officials have said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting rates.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a substantial decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in January. Also, the Conference Board released a report showing an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in February.

Oil prices moved higher Tuesday on supply concerns due to the disruptions in the Red Sea route and amid uncertainty about a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.29 or 1.66 percent at $78.87 a barrel.