Malaysia Stock Market May Snap Losing Streak On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, although it has eased just 3 points in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,500-point plateau although it may find traction on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher ahead of this week's FOMC meeting. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished barely lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index eased 0.84 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 1,497.55 after trading between 1,493.07 and 1,500.91.

Among the actives, Axiata improved 0.66 percent, while CIMB Group gained 0.35 percent, Dialog Group rallied 1.51 percent, Digi.com perked 0.23 percent, Genting added 0.39 percent, Genting Malaysia and IOI Corporation both jumped 1.04 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.34 percent, INARI declined 0.74 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 1.02 percent, Maybank sank 0.46 percent, Maxis plunged 2.21 percent, MISC dipped 0.28 percent, MRDIY spiked 1.54 percent, Petronas Chemicals and Petronas Gas both fell 0.35 percent, PPB Group spiked 1.03 percent, Press Metal skidded 0.94 percent, Public Bank dropped 0.70 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.17 percent, Sime Darby advanced 0.86 percent, Sime Darby Plantations tumbled 1.61 percent, Telekom Malaysia and Hong Leong Bank both lost 0.38 percent and Tenaga Nasional rose 0.32 percent.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be positive as the major averages shook off early listlessness to move into the green in afternoon trade.

The Dow added 28.68 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 33,978.08, while the NASDAQ jumped 109.31 points or 0.95 percent to end at 11,621.71 and the S&P 500 rose 10.13 points or 0.25 percent to close at 4,070.56.

For the week, the NASDAQ soared 4.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.5 percent and the Dow jumped 1.8 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy meeting this week. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points, but traders will look to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said personal income increased in line with estimates in December, while personal spending eased in line with expectations. The report also said core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose more than expected.

A separate report from the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected rebound in pending home sales in December, while the University of Michigan upwardly revised its reading on consumer sentiment in January.

Crude oil prices fell Friday amid uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand. Profit taking after recent gains and indications that oil supply from Russia will surge also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March sank $1.33 or 1.6 percent at $79.68 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 2.4 percent in the week.