Malaysia Stock Market May Give Up Support At 1,500 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, dropping more than 20 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,500-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on lingering concerns over tariffs and the health of the world economy. The European and U.S. markets both were slightly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and telecoms and mixed performances from the plantations and industrials.

For the day, the index sank 13.50 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 1,504.16 after trading between 1,504.14 and 1,524.23.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail dropped 0.51 percent, while Axiata added 0.56 percent, Celcomdigi plunged 2.55 percent, CIMB Group stumbled 1.88 percent, Gamuda skidded 0.75 percent, IHH Healthcare plummeted 4.65 percent, IOI Corporation and Petronas Chemicals both declined 1.07 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.19 percent, Maxis improved 0.63 percent, Maybank tumbled 1.74 percent, MISC perked 0.14 percent, MRDIY climbed 0.75 percent, Nestle Malaysia surrendered 2.08 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.68 percent, Press Metal gained 0.20 percent, Public Bank retreated 1.32 percent, QL Resources dipped 0.21 percent, RHB Bank slumped 1.00 percent, Sime Darby tanked 2.48 percent, SD Guthrie increased 0.62 percent, Sunway lost 0.22 percent, Telekom Malaysia shed 0.31 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.44 percent, YTL Corporation soared 3.00 percent and YTL Power surged 4.28 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages were unable to hold early gains on Thursday, slipping slightly under water by the close.

The Dow shed 11.31 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 41,953.32m while the NASDAQ lost 59.16 points or 0.33 percent to close at 17,691.16 and the S&P 500 fell 12.40 points or 0.22 percent to end at 5,662.89.

The modestly lower close on Wall Street came amid lingering concerns about the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged, but forecasts suggest officials still expect to resume cutting rates later this year.

However, the Fed officials also lowered their projections for GDP growth in 2025 to 1.7 percent from 2.1 percent and raised their forecasts for consumer price growth this year to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent.

Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday after the U.S. slapped fresh sanctions on Iran. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $1.10 or about 1.6 percent at $68.26 a barrel on the expiration day.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see February figures for consumer prices later today; in January, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent on month and 1.7 percent on year.