Malaysia Bourse May See Renewed Support On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market turned lower again on Monday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 20 points or 1.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,500-point plateau and it figures to bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology stocks and oil companies. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial hares, telecoms and plantation stocks.

For the day, the index eased 1.63 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 1,503.82 after trading between 1,502.98 and 1,508.90.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail, CIMB Group and Sime Darby all rallied 1.02 percent, while Celcomdigi jumped 1.20 percent, Gamuda skidded 1.01 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.72 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.54 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 0.29 percent, Maxis surged 1.60 percent, Maybank eased 0.20 percent, MRDIY advanced 0.73 percent, Nestle Malaysia skyrocketed 7.03 percent, Petronas Chemicals tumbled 1.64 percent, Petronas Dagangan plummeted 5.73 percent, Petronas Gas declined 1.04 percent, PPB Group sank 0.69 percent, Press Metal perked 0.20 percent, Public Bank fell 0.22 percent, QL Resources tanked 1.90 percent, RHB Bank dropped 0.74 percent, SD Guthrie shed 0.61 percent, Sunway plunged 2.22 percent, Telekom Malaysia gained 0.62 percent, YTL Power retreated 1.17 percent and Axiata, Tenaga Nasional, YTL Corporation and MISC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 597.97 points or 1.42 percent to finish at 42,583.32, while the NASDAQ rallied 404.54 points or 2.27 percent to close at 18,188.59 and the S&P 500 gained 100.01 points or 1.76 percent to end at 5,767.57.

The support on Wall Street came on reports that President Donald Trump may hold back some of the reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2.

Semiconductor and networking stocks had a very good outing. Shares from steel, banking, retail and airline sectors too closed mostly higher.

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday after Trump announced a 25 percent secondary tariff on countries purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled higher by $0.83 or 1.22 percent at $69.11 a barrel.