Win Streak May Continue For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has ticked higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 4 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,515-point plateau and it's likely to see additional support again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following strong U.S. employment data, even though it dims the possibility of an interest rate hike next month. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the financials and industrials were offset by weakness from the telecoms and a mixed picture from the plantation sector.

For the day, the index rose 3.60 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 1.516.58 after trading between 1,508.50 and 1,521.23.

Among the actives, Axiata lost 0.37 percent, while Celcomdigi dropped 0.94 percent, Genting surged 2.97 percent, Genting Malaysia spiked 2.59 percent, IHH Healthcare rose 0.16 percent, IOI Corporation shed 0.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong sank 0.90 percent, Maxis added 0.53 percent, Maybank collected 0.86 percent, MRDIY soared 2.90 percent, Petronas Chemicals was up 0.15 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.83 percent, Press Metal tumbled 1.90 percent, Public Bank climbed 0.91 percent, RHB Capital gained 0.36 percent, Sime Darby improved 0.82 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rallied 1.58 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.35 percent, Tenaga Nasional jumped 1.31 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 4.27 percent, YTL Power plunged 4.14 percent and MISC, CIMB Group, AMMB Holdings and Petronas Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but consistently trended upward and finished well into the green, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 134.62 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 38,654.42, while the NASDAQ surged 267.35 points or 1.74 percent to end at 15,628.95 and the S&P 500 jumped 52.42 points or 1.07 percent to close at 4,958.61. For the week, the NASDAQ shot up 1.1 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both jumped 1.4 percent.

The extended rally on Wall Street came amid a positive reaction to earnings news from Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and online retail giant Amazon (AMZN).

Traders were also reacting to the closely watched report from the Labor Department showing much stronger than expected job growth in January.

The data further reduces the chances of an interest rate cut in March, but a strong jobs market is viewed as a good thing for the stock market and the economy.

Oil prices fell sharply on Friday as hopes of an early rate cut by the Federal Reserve faded after data showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in January. The dollar's sharp uptick after the jobs data also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended down $1.54 or about 2.1 percent at $72.28 a barrel. The contract shed more than 7 percent in the week.