Mild Upside Anticipated For Malaysia Shares

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Thursday's holiday for Nuzul Al-Quran, the Malaysia stock market had moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 7 points or 0.5 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,530-point plateau and it's expected to tick higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the plantations and telecoms, while the financial sector was mixed.

For the day, the index shed 7.82 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 1,530.60 after trading between 1,528.52 and 1,536.58.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings rose 0.48 percent, while Axiata plummeted 3.24 percent, Celcomdigi plunged 1/64 percent, CIMB Group added 0.77 percent, Genting tumbled 1.26 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.09 percent, IHH Healthcare and Telekom Malaysia both fell 0.33 percent, IOI Corporation tanked 1.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.18 percent, Maxis dropped 0.88 percent, Maybank lost 0.41 percent, MISC sank 0.78 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.35 percent, Petronas Chemicals shed 0.59 percent, Press Metal gained 0.65 percent, Public Bank slumped 0.94 percent, QL Resources perked 0.17 percent, Sime Darby Plantations skidded 0.91 percent, Tenaga Nasional gathered 0.36 percent, YTL Corporation rallied 1.16 percent, YTL Power advanced 0.80 percent and PPB Group, RHB Capital and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher but then spent most of the day hugging both side of the line before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 47.29 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 39,807.37, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.06 points or 0.12 percent to close at 16,379.46 and the S&P 500 rose 5.86 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,254.35. For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the S&P rose 0.4 percent and the NASDAQ fell 0.3 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of a Commerce Department report on personal income and spending later today Friday that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

While the inflation data could impact the outlook for interest rates, traders will have to wait until next Monday to react to the report due to the markets being closed for Good Friday.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week. The Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew more than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2023. And the National Association of Realtors noted a rebound by pending home sales in February.

Oil futures rallied on Thursday, lifted by a likely drop in supply levels due to OPEC production cuts and continued attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May spiked $1.82 or 2.2 percent at $83.17 a barrel. WTI futures gained 3.15 percent for the week.