Soft Start Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market ticked lower again on Tuesday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost 6 points or 0.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,455-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financials and telecoms, while the plantations offered support.

For the day, the index dipped 1.65 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 1,453.39 after trading between 1,448.41 and 1,454.32.

Among the actives, Axiata advanced 0.82 percent, while Celcomdigi and IHH Healthcare both added 0.68 percent, CIMB Group eased 0.18 percent, Genting gathered 0.24 percent, Genting Malaysia gained 0.40 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 1.42 percent, Maybank dipped 0.22 percent, MISC fell 0.28 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 3.18 percent, PPB Group climbed 1.15 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.35 percent, Sime Darby lost 0.46 percent, Sime Darby Plantations perked 0.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia tumbled 1.19 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.61 percent and MRDIY, Petronas Gas, Maxis, Dialog Group, Public Bank, Westports Holdings, AMMB Holdings, Press Metal, Nestle Malaysia and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, rallied midday and then finished under water.

The Dow dipped 17.73 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 34,645.99, while the NASDAQ tumbled 144.28 points or 1.04 percent to close at 13,773.61 and the S&P 500 sank 25.56 points or 0.57 percent to end at 4,461.90.

The lower close on Wall Street came as traders look ahead to the release of the Labor Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation later today.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week; CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 93.0 percent chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged.

A steep drop by shares of Oracle (ORCL) weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ, with the software giant plunging by 13.5 percent after the company reported weaker than expected fiscal first quarter revenues and provided disappointing revenue guidance for the current quarter.

Oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday to a 10-month closing high after the monthly report from (OPEC) showed the oil market may be a lot tighter than initially thought. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.55 or 1.8 percent at $88.84 a barrel.