Malaysia Shares May Erase Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,545-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index shed 8.68 points or 0.56 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,544.96 after peaking at 1,552.10.

Among the actives, AMB Holdings added 0.73 percent, while Axiata climbed 1.08 percent, Celcomdigi plummeted 2.97 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.60 percent, Genting tumbled 1.20 percent, Genting Malaysia and Maybank both declined 1.03 percent, IHH Healthcare dropped 0.82 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Hong Leong Financial both slipped 0.36 percent, Maxis skidded 0.85 percent, MISC jumped 1.88 percent, Petronas Chemicals shed 0.73 percent, Petronas Dagangan rallied 1.40 percent, PPB Group gained 0.65 percent, Press Metal plunged 2.54 percent, Public Bank was down 0.23 percent, QL Resources eased 0.17 percent, Sime Darby slid 0.38 percent, Sime Darby Plantations lost 0.69 percent, Tenaga Nasional slumped 0.86 percent, YTL Corporation retreated 1.09 percent, YTL Power sank 0.77 percent and MRDIY, RHB Capital, Telekom Malaysia and IOI Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the day and finished in the green.

The Dow jumped 320.33 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 39,110.76, while the NASDAQ rallied 3.34 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,166.79 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 5,178.51.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a rebound by Nvidia (NVDA) after the company unveiled its latest line of AI chips; the company has lately been a key driver of market activity.

Traders also continue to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank's accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in February, while building permits also bounced higher.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, rising for a second straight day as traders continued to assess the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.75 at $83.47 a barrel.