Little Movement Expected For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 20 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,425-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat on ongoing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished sharply lower on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares and telecoms.

For the day, the index skidded 15.94 points or 1.11 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,424.17 after trading as high as 1,436.97.

Among the actives, Axiata skidded 1.19 percent, while Celcomdigi retreated 1.35 percent, CIMB Group tanked 2.16 percent, Dialog Group plunged 2.30 percent, Genting sank 0.95 percent, Genting Malaysia slid 0.40 percent, IHH Healthcare stumbled 1.85 percent, IOI Corporation was down 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 0.47 percent, Maybank dropped 1.01 percent, MISC shed 0.56 percent, Petronas Chemicals fell 0.42 percent, Press Metal declined 1.67 percent, Public Bank tumbled 1.93 percent, RHB Capital slumped 1.27 percent, Sime Darby Plantations eased 0.23 percent, Tenaga Nasional dipped 0.30 percent, Westports Holdings plummeted 2.42 percent and Maxis, MRDIY, PPB Group, Sime Darby and Telekom Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Friday but faded into the red as the day progressed, although the NASDAQ managed to peek back up into the green by the close.

The Dow shed 158.80 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 33,507.50, while the NASDAQ rose 18.02 points or 0.14 percent to close at 13,219.32 and the S&P 500 fell 11.65 points or 0.27 percent to end at 4,288.05.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came on concerns over the prospect of a government shutdown, although that was avoided at the last minute.

The outlook for interest rates also rendered the mood cautious, prompting investors to lighten commitments.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said personal income in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in August. Also, core CPI slowed in August and overall inflation ticked slightly higher - both in line with forecasts.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday, with a bit of profit taking and uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand weighing on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $0.92 or 1 percent at $90.79 a barrel. WTI crude futures added 0.8 percent in the week and 8.5 percent in September.