Malaysia Stock Market May Find Traction On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just shy of the 1,460-point plateau although it's due for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected after selling and uncertainty earlier in the week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following weakness from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index shed 6.35 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,457.65 after trading between 1,456.30 and 1,467.63.

Among the actives, Axiata added 0.64 percent, Dialog Group plunged 2.15 percent, Digi.com fell 0.23 percent, Genting advanced 0.86 percent, Genting Malaysia sank 0.36 percent, IHH Healthcare stumbled 1.67 percent, INARI dropped 0.41 percent, IOI Corporation retreated 0.79 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 0.38 percent, Maybank collected 0.35 percent, Maxis tumbled 1.95 percent, MISC rose 0.13 percent, MRDIY skidded 0.59 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 4.88 percent, Press Metal climbed 1.35 percent, Public Bank and Petronas Gas both lost 0.24 percent, Sime Darby declined 0.87 percent, Sime Darby Plantations slumped 0.69 percent, Telekom Malaysia tanked 1.98 percent and Tenaga Nasional, PPB Group, CIMB Group, RHB Capital and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, slumped midday but rebounded to end firmly in the green.

The Dow climbed 108.82 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 33,153.91, while the NASDAQ jumped 83.33 points or 0.72 percent to close at 11,590.40 and the S&P 500 rose 21.27 points or 0.53 percent to end at 4,012.32.

Buying interest remained somewhat subdued as interest rate concerns continued to hang over the markets following Wednesday's release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed minutes offered few surprised but reiterated that the central bank will continue to raise interest rates in its battle against inflation.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, while the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew by slightly less than estimated Q4 of 2022.

After trending lower in recent sessions, the price of crude oil showed a strong move back to the upside on Thursday, despite a bigger than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery spiked $1.44 or 2.0 percent to $75.39 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide January data for inflation later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.7 percent on year, easing from 3.8 percent in December.