Malaysia Bourse May Test Resistance At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,580-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to slightly higher ahead of Wednesday's FOMC policy announcement. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the plantations and telecoms were capped by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index added 7.50 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 1,582.66 after trading between 1,575.00 and 1,583.34.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings and Nestle Malaysia both fell 0.24 percent, while Axiata spiked 1.82 percent, Genting advanced 1.11 percent, Genting Malaysia climbed 1.15 percent, IHH Healthcare rallied 1.59 percent, IOI Corporation strengthened 1.23 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.87 percent, Maxis accelerated 1.68 percent, Maybank lost 0.41 percent, MISC gained 0.76 percent, MRDIY soared 1.95 percent, Petronas Chemicals gathered 0.29 percent, Public Bank and Hong Leong Financial both sank 0.71 percent, QL Resources perked 0.16 percent, RHB Capital shed 0.55 percent, Sime Darby skidded 1.07 percent, Sime Darby Plantations jumped 1.58 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.33 percent, YTL Corporation surged 5.61 percent, YTL Power skyrocketed 8.37 percent and Celcomdigi, CIMB Group, PPB Group, Press Metal, Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Monday and stayed mostly in the green, ending slightly higher.

The Dow jumped 146.43 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 38,386.09, while the NASDAQ advanced 55.18 points or 0.35 percent to close at 15,983.08 and the S&P 500 added 16.21 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,116.17.

The modestly higher close on Wall Street came as stocks continue to benefit from the upward momentum seen last week, which came amid a positive reaction to upbeat tech earnings.

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

Oil futures settled lower on Monday amid worries about growth and outlook for oil demand and the rising possibility of the Federal Reserve delaying interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $1.22 or 1.45 percent at $82.63 a barrel.