Malaysia Stock Market Due For Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the break for the Lunar New Year, the Malaysia stock market had moved lower in four straight sessions, retreating more than 35 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,550-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from oil, gold and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up on Thursday and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, telecoms and industrials, while the plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 6.28 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 1,552.69 after trading between 1,544.87 and 1,557.44.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail tanked 1.79 percent, while Axiata slid 0.45 percent, Celcomdigi dropped 1.06 percent, CIMB Group slumped 1.12 percent, Gamuda shed 0.74 percent, IHH Healthcare skidded 1.11 percent, IOI Corporation fell 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 0.69 percent, Maxis plunged 2.50 percent, Maybank tumbled 1.16 percent, MISC eased 0.14 percent, MRDIY declined 1.20 percent, Nestle Malaysia was down 0.20 percent, Petronas Chemicals added 0.65 percent, PPB Group and QL Resources both stumbled 1.52 percent, Press Metal retreated 1.41 percent, Public Bank dipped 0.23 percent, SD Guthrie surged 6.41 percent, Sunway rallied 1.41 percent, Telekom Malaysia sank 0.76 percent, Tenaga Nasional climbed 1.19 percent, YTL Corporation surrendered 1.55 percent, YTL Power plummeted 3.42 percent and RHB Bank and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, dipped into the red a few times but all ended above the unchanged line.

The Dow jumped 168.61 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 44,882.13, while the NASDAQ added 49.43 points or 0.25 percent to close at 19,681.75 and the S&P 500 gained 31.86 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,071.17.

The major averages moved sharply lower late in the session after President Donald Trump said he would follow through on his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on February 1.

However, the major averages rebounded going into the close, reflecting the significant volatility from earnings news throughout the session.

Companies such as IBM Corp. (IBM) and Meta Platforms (META) posted quarterly results that beat expectations, while Microsoft (MSFT) and UPS (UPS) has decent earnings but provided disappointing guidance.

Oil futures settled marginally higher on Thursday on a likely drop in supplies amid a potential tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods, while a weaker dollar also provided support. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March rose $0.11 or 0.15 percent at $72.73 a barrel.