Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,520-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on tariff concerns, particularly among the technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index rose 4.45 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 1,518.05 after trading between 1,514.65 and 1,525.73.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rallied 2.50 percent, while Axiata surged 5.06 percent, Celcomdigi climbed 0.87 percent, CIMB Group and Hong Leong Financial both added 0.57 percent, Gamuda lost 0.25 percent, IHH Healthcare sank 0.43 percent, IOI Corporation strengthened 1.09 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong skidded 0.58 percent, Maxis spiked 3.07 percent, Maybank shed 0.39 percent, MISC rose 0.14 percent, Nestle Malaysia soared 4.50 percent, PPB Group retreated 1.37 percent, Public Bank advanced 0.68 percent, QL Resources slumped 0.64 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.44 percent, Sime Darby accelerated 2.48 percent, Sunway dropped 0.45 percent, Telekom Malaysia jumped 1.54 percent, Tenaga Nasional fell 0.15 percent, YTL Corporation tumbled 1.91 percent, YTL Power declined 1.16 percent and MRDIY, Press Metal, SD Guthrie and Petronas Chemicals were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but all trended lower as the day progressed, ending solidly under water.

The Dow dropped 132.71 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 42,454.79, while the NASDAQ tumbled 372.84 points or 2.04 percent to close at 17,899.02 and the S&P 500 sank 64,45 points or 1.12 percent to end at 5,712.20.

The sharp pullback by the NASDAQ came as big-name tech stocks came under pressure, reflecting ongoing uncertainty about President Donald Trump's tariff plans.

Stocks saw further downside after the White House said Trump plans to announce new tariffs on auto imports later this afternoon.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department noted an unexpected increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.

Oil prices moved higher Wednesday on supply concerns after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week, while renewed efforts from the U.S. to limit Venezuelan and Iranian oil exports also boosted prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed up $0.65 or about 0.94 percent at $69.65 a barrel.