Malaysia Bourse Likely To Hug 1,400-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost 10 points or 0.7 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,405-point plateau and it figures to remain in that neighborhood again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with earnings news possibly steering the markets. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the telecoms, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the plantations.

For the day, the index rose 3.66 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 1,406.69 after trading between 1,402.71 and 1,409.34.

Among the actives, Axiata gathered 0.40 percent, while Celcomdigi jumped 1.41 percent, Genting gained 0.48 percent, Genting Malaysia advanced 0.79 percent, IHH Healthcare dipped 0.17 percent, IOI Corporation spiked 2.84 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 0.44 percent, Maxis sank 0.74 percent, Maybank fell 0.23 percent, MRDIY tumbled 2.03 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 3.01 percent, Press Metal perked 0.21 percent, Public Bank collected 0.25 percent, Sime Darby added 0.49 percent, Telekom Malaysia rallied 1.45 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.33 percent, Westports Holdings climbed 1.39 percent and Sime Darby Plantations, PPB Group, QL Resources, CIMB Group, Dialog Group, RHB Capital, MISC, Nestle Malaysia and Hong Leong Bank al were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent and uninspiring as the major averages opened and closed mixed on Thursday; the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, while the NASDAQ and S&P opened lower and remained in the red throughout.

The Dow climbed 163.97 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 35,225.18, while the NASDAQ tumbled 294.71 points or 2.05 percent to close at 14,063.31 and the S&P 500 sank 30.85 points or 0.68 percent to end at 4,534.87.

The sharp pullback by the Nasdaq came amid a negative reaction to earnings news from companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Tesla (TSLA). On the other hand, the narrower Dow benefitted from a spike from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) after solid earnings news.

Traders also reacted to a Labor Department report showing that first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly dipped last week.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday and lifted the August series futures contract to a positive close on the expiration day amid fears of declining supplies from Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August settled at $75.63 a barrel, gaining $0.28 or 0.4 percent.