Malaysia Shares May Bounce Higher On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,515-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, thanks to upbeat employment data out of the United States. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished barely lower on Friday as losses from the industrials were offset by support from the plantation stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 1.33 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 1,516.79 after trading between 1,513.39 and 1,518.71.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slumped 0.95 percent, while Axiata rallied 1.00 percent, Celcomdigi was down 0.52 percent, CIMB Group lost 0.44 percent, Gamuda and Sunway both added 0.63 percent, IHH Healthcare fell 0.29 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.28 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong improved 0.91 percent, Maxis gained 0.55 percent, MRDIY spiked 1.26 percent, Nestle Malaysia sank 0.62 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 3.27 percent, PPB Group shed 0.55 percent, Press Metal tumbled 1.78 percent, Public Bank declined 0.47 percent, QL Resources advanced 0.92 percent, RHB Bank dropped 0.78 percent, Sime Darby surged 2.29 percent, SD Guthrie increased 0.88 percent, Telekom Malaysia eased 0.15 percent, YTL Corporation climbed 0.99 percent and YTL Power, Maybank, MISC, Petronas Gas and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged.

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

The Dow surged 443.13 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 42,762.87, while the NASDAQ rallied 231.50 points or 1.20 percent to close at 19,529.95 and the S&P 500 gained 61.06 points or 1.03 percent to end at 6,000.36.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing slightly stronger than expected U.S. job growth in May.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 130,000 jobs.

The modestly bigger than expected increase in employment helped offset concerns about the strength of the economy following some recent downbeat data.

Crude oil prices move higher on Friday in response to the better-than-expected jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $1.21 to $64.58 per barrel; it was up 6 percent for the week.