Win Streak May Continue For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,555-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic following better than expected U.S. employment data. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the plantations were offset by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index perked 2.01 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 1,555.25 after trading between 1,547.96 and 1,555.97.

Among the actives, Axiata soared 2.68 percent, while CIMB Group fell 0.30 percent, Genting eased 0.21 percent, Genting Malaysia lost 0.37 percent, IOI Corporation climbed 1.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.18 percent, Maxis spiked 2.60 percent, Maybank sank 0.52 percent, MRDIY rallied 2.03 percent, Petronas Chemicals jumped 1.48 percent, PPB Group shed 0.50 percent, Press Metal surged 3.32 percent, Public Bank slumped 0.71 percent, QL Resources added 0.33 percent, RHB Capital advanced 0.70 percent, Sime Darby retreated 1.46 percent, Sime Darby Plantations strengthened 1.33 percent, Tenaga Nasional perked 0.17 percent, YTL Corporation tumbled 1.88 percent, YTL Power slid 0.25 percent and Celcomdigi, MISC, IHH Healthcare, Telekom Malaysia, AMMB Holdings and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher and remained firmly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 307.06 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 38,904.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 199.42 points or 1.24 percent to end at 16,248.52 and the S&P 500 advanced 57.13 points or 1.11 percent to close at 5,204.34.

For the week, the Dow plunged 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 slumped 1.0 percent and the NASDAQ slid 0.8 percent.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing much stronger than expected job growth in March.

While the stronger than expected job growth may have added to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates, the report also showed a continued slowdown in the annual rate of wage growth.

Oil futures rose on Friday, extending recent gains on supply worries due to geopolitical tensions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May added $0.32 or 0.37 percent at $86.91 a barrel, settling at a fresh five-month high. WTI crude futures gained 4 percent in the week.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide February data for industrial production and unemployment later today; in January, they were up an annual 4.3 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.