Bargain Hunting May Boost Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has tracked lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 25 points or 1,7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,610-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, mostly on inertia following the U.S. election. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financials and telecoms were mitigated by support from the plantation stocks.

For the day, the index sank 11.98 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 1,609.26 after trading between 1,609.24 and 1,627.23.

Among the actives, Axiata advanced 0.89 percent, while Celcomdigi skidded 0.90 percent, CIMB Group shed 0.73 percent, Genting sank 0.78 percent, Genting Malaysia plummeted 2.24 percent, IHH Healthcare dipped 0.14 percent, IOI Corporation and MISC both added 0.51 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rallied 1.55 percent, Maxis jumped 1.68 percent, Maybank declined 1.52 percent, MRDIY tanked 1.85 percent, Nestle Malaysia rose 0.02 percent, Petronas Chemicals tumbled 1.83 percent, Press Metal climbed 1.07 percent, Public Bank retreated 1.78 percent, QL Resources lost 0.62 percent, RHB Bank and YTL Power both slumped 0.93 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.85 percent, SD Guthrie surged 2.81 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.61 percent, Tenaga Nasional plunged 2.08 percent and PPB Group, YTL Corporation, Sunway and Petronas Dagangan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Monday and spent most of the day hugging line before finishing with mild gains that were all fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 304.14 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 44,294.13, while the NASDAQ rose 11.99 points or 0.06 percent to close at 19,298.76 and the S&P 500 added 5.81 points or 0.10 percent to end at 6,001.35.

Investors remained optimistic that Donald Trump's policies such as tax reductions and deregulation will help boost corporate earnings.

Oil futures closed sharply lower on Monday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and concerns about demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $2.34 or 3.6 percent at $68.04 a barrel.