Malaysia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has ticked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,410-point plateau although the rally may stall on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index rose 5.49 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 1,412.04 after trading between 1,406.51 and 1,413.52.

Among the actives, Axiata sank 0.66 percent, while CIMB Group rose 0.19 percent, Dialog Group advanced 0.88 percent, Genting gained 0.45 percent, Genting Malaysia strengthened 1.19 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dipped 0.10 percent, Maybank rallied 1.79 percent, Maxis jumped 1.78 percent, MISC improved 0.56 percent, MRDIY spiked 1.86 percent, Petronas Chemicals lost 0.44 percent, PPB Group dropped 0.84 percent, Press Metal retreated 1.26 percent, Public Bank collected 0.25 percent, Sime Darby climbed 0.93 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 0.53 percent and Digi.com, IHH Healthcare, INARI, IOI Corporation, Sime Darby Plantations, Telekom Malaysia, RHB Capital and QL Resources were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday and stayed that way until the FOMC announcement, which caused them to plummet.

The Dow plunged 530.49 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 32.030.11, while the NASDAQ tumbled 190.15 points or 1.60 percent to close at 11,669.96 and the S&P 500 sank 65.90 points or 1.65 percent to end at 3,936.97.

The late-day sell-off on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its decision to continue raising interest rates despite recent turmoil in the banking industry.

While the interest rate hike was widely expected, some traders may have been holding out hope the Fed would leave rates unchanged.

The central bank's latest projections suggest the Fed plans to raise rates just one more time this year to a range of 5.0 to 5.25 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday after data showed that crude inventories rose by 1.117 million barrels last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled at $70.90 a barrel, gaining $1.23 or 1.8 percent.