Renewed Selling Pressure Likely For Malaysia Bourse

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finished through the last six trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,390-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious on concerns for the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index perked 1.00 point or 0.07 percent to finish at 1,388.33 after trading between 1,383.86 and 1,388.75.

Among the actives, Axiata tumbled 1.52 percent, while Celcomdigi perked 0.24 percent, CIMB Group climbed 1.18 percent, Dialog Group retreated 1.42 percent, Genting sank 0.48 percent, Genting Malaysia shed 0.39 percent, IHH Healthcare jumped 1.35 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gathered 0.37 percent, Maxis gained 0.48 percent, MISC dropped 0.42 percent, MRDIY plummeted 2.53 percent, Petronas Chemicals skidded 0.65 percent, PPB Group eased 0.13 percent, Press Metal plunged 2.11 percent, Public Bank collected 0.26 percent, RHB Capital advanced 0.75 percent, Sime Darby Plantations slumped 0.69 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.40 percent and Tenaga Nasional, Sime Darby and Maybank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and stayed in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 245.25 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 34,053.87, while the NASDAQ dipped 22.28 points or 0.16 percent to end at 13,667.29 and the S&P 500 fell 20.88 points or 0.47 percent to close at 4,388.71.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the NASADAQ and the S&P 500 to their best levels in over a year last week.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders look ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later today regarding the outlook for interest rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. unexpectedly skyrocketed in May, while building permits also jumped more than expected.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns that further tightening by the Federal Reserve and other central banks may impact global economic growth and weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.74 at $71.19 a barrel.