Little Movement Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in four consecutive sessions, slipping almost 25 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,465-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on recession concerns and on the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the industrials and telecoms, support from the financials and mixed performances from the plantations and glove makers.

For the day, the index dipped 4.67 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 1,466.88 after trading between 1,466.46 and 1,477.86.

Among the actives, Axiata plummeted 3.88 percent, while CIMB Group rallied 1.62 percent, Dialog Group dipped 0.43 percent, Digi.com tumbled 1.32 percent, Genting dropped 0.91 percent, Genting Malaysia shed 0.77 percent, Hartalega Holdings retreated 1.25 percent, IHH Healthcare climbed 1.37 percent, INARI plunged 1.81 percent, IOI Corporation fell 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.29 percent, Maybank collected 0.46 percent, MISC sank 0.83 percent, MRDIY added 0.48 percent, Petronas Chemicals eased 0.12 percent, PPB Group slumped 0.82 percent, Press Metal skidded 1.03 percent, Public Bank lost 0.67 percent, RHB Capital jumped 1.79 percent, Sime Darby Plantations advanced 0.93 percent, Telekom Malaysia declined 1.28 percent. Tenaga Nasional stumbled 1.20 percent and Top Glove, Maxis and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to lower following a volatile Wednesday that saw the major averages bounce back and forth across the unchanged line before ending on opposite sides.

The Dow rose 1.58 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 33,597.92, while the NASDAQ sank 56.34 points or 0.51 percent to end at 10,958.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.34 points or 0.19 percent to close at 3,933.92.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed still seems poised to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, but recent upbeat economic data has raised concerns about how much further the central bank will raise rates at future meetings.

The recent selling on Wall Street partly reflects worries the Fed will need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a sharp increase in gasoline inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for January ended lower by $2.24 or 3 percent at $72.01 a barrel, losing for the fourth consecutive session.