Malaysia Stock Market May Reverse Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday snapped the four-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 20 points or 1.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,460-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on better-than-expected inflation data from the United States. The European and U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index eased 3.10 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 1,458.93 after trading between 1,453.37 and 1,460.70.

Among the actives, Axiata advanced 0.75 percent, while Celcomdigi declined 0.90 percent, CIMB Group added 0.18 percent, Dialog Group lost 0.44 percent, Genting fell 0.23 percent, IHH Healthcare jumped 1.01 percent, IOI Corporation plunged 1.92 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 0.86 percent, Maxis sank 0.50 percent, MISC dropped 0.55 percent, MRDIY skyrocketed 8.39 percent, Petronas Chemicals gained 0.15 percent, Press Metal slumped 0.60 percent, Public Bank shed 0.48 percent, RHB Capital retreated 1.05 percent, Sime Darby plummeted 2.27 percent, Sime Darby Plantations tumbled 1.32 percent, Telekom Malaysia tanked 1.37 percent, Tenaga Nasional climbed 0.93 percent, Westports Holdings rose 0.06 percent and Genting Malaysia, Maybank, PPB Group, Petronas Dagangan, QL Resources and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Thursday but faded as the day progressed, ending just barely in the green.

The Dow added 52.79 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 35,176.15, while the NASDAQ gained 15.97 points or 0.12 percent to close at 13,737.99 and the S&P 500 perked 1.12 points or 0.03 percent to end at 4,468.83.

The early rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing the annual rate of consumer price inflation accelerated less than expected in July.

While the data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged next month, economists suggested sticky core inflation could leave the door open for the Fed to resume raising rates in November.

Oil prices fell from multi-month highs Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for oil demand from China after imports plummeted. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.58 at $$82.82 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide Q2 numbers for GDP and current account later today; in the three months prior, GDP was up 5.6 percent on year, while the current account surplus was $4.30 billion.