Malaysia Stock Market Due For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, gathering more than 20 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,460-point plateau, although investors may lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed amid a lack of catalysts, with optimism over the outlook for interest rates preventing any heavy selling. The European and U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The KLCI finished modestly higher again on Friday following gains from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and plantations.

For the day, the index added 6.19 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,462.45 after trading between 1,455.69 and 1,464.78.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings lost 0.25 percent, while Axiata climbed 0.85 percent, Celcomdigi was up 0.25 percent, CIMB Group gathered 0.34 percent, Dialog Group surged 2.60 percent, Genting fell 0.21 percent, Genting Malaysia rallied 1.49 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.67 percent, IOI Corporation accelerated 2.01 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 0.47 percent, Maxis spiked 2.36 percent, Maybank dropped 0.55 percent, MISC advanced 0.83 percent, PPB Group slumped 1.38 percent, Press Metal perked 0.36 percent, Public Bank collected 0.23 percent, QL Resources sank 0.52 percent, RHB Capital gained 0.55 percent, Sime Darby soared 2.51 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rose 0.44 percent, Telekom Malaysia strengthened 1.48 percent, Tenaga Nasional eased 0.20 percent, Westports Holdings jumped 1.70 percent and MRDIY and Petronas Chemicals were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and finished the same way, little changed.

The Dow added 56.76 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 37,305.16, while the NASDAQ gained 52.32 points or 0.35 percent to close at 14,813.92 and the S&P 500 eased 0.36 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,719.19.

The major averages all closed higher for the seventh consecutive week. The Dow and the NASDAQ both surged by 2.9 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped by 2.5 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a breather following the recent upward move by the markets, although optimism about the outlook for interest rates continued to support the markets.

On the U.S. economic front, the Federal Reserve released a report showing a modest rebound in U.S. industrial production in November.

Oil futures posted their first weekly gain in two months despite settling on a slightly weak note on Friday. An upward revision in oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency and a weak dollar pushed up crude oil prices over the past few sessions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January eased $0.15 at $71.43 a barrel on Friday but added 0.2% for the week.