Continued Support Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had slipped almost 8 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive, although technology companies may fall under pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets also figure to move into the green.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the telecoms and a mixed performance from the financial shares and plantations.

For the day, the index collected 6.67 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,452.74 after trading between 1,440.62 and 1,452.74.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings plunged 2.22 percent, while Axiata stumbled 1.74 percent, Celcomdigi surged 5.08 percent, CIMB Group rose 0.18 percent, Dialog Group skyrocketed 6.76 percent, Genting sank 0.64 percent, Genting Malaysia slumped 0.74 percent, IOI Corporation advanced 0.75 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 1.77 percent, Maybank dropped 0.66 percent, MISC fell 0.14 percent, MRDIY retreated 1.29 percent, Petronas Chemicals spiked 1.98 percent, PPB Group climbed 0.86 percent, Press Metal tumbled 1.84 percent, Public Bank collected 0.71 percent, RHB Capital skidded 0.73 percent, Sime Darby soared 2.92 percent, Sime Darby Plantations declined 0.88 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.57 percent, Tenaga Nasional rallied 1.11 percent and Westports Holdings, IHH Healthcare and Maxis were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, with the Dow remaining solidly in the green throughout the session. The NASDAQ quickly turned lower and stayed in the red, while the S&P also fell into negative territory but staged a late rally into positive territory.

The Dow surged 520.47 points or 1.47 percent to finish at 35,950.89, while the NASDAQ slumped 32.27 points or 0.23 percent to close at 14,226.22 and the S&P 500 added 17.22 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,567.80.

The surge by the Dow was due in large part to a spike by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud software company soaring by 9.4 percent after it reported better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and provided upbeat guidance.

Meanwhile, the decrease by the NASDAQ came amid a rebound by treasury yields, as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bounced off its lowest levels in over two months.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed in line with estimates in October.

Oil prices tumbled on Thursday despite an announcement from OPEC that members have agreed to voluntarily output cuts for the first quarter of 2024. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.90 or 2.4 percent at $75.96 a barrel.