Malaysia Shares Expected To Remain Rangebound On Friday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Thursday's holiday for National Day, the Malaysia stock market turned lower again - one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had given up less than a single point. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,450-point plateau and it's expected to see little movement again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and plantations.

For the day, the index slipped 2.50 points or 0.17 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,451.94 after moving as high as 1,462.80.

Among the actives, Axiata plummeted 8.53 percent, while Celcomdigi retreated 1.13 percent, Dialog Group plunged 2.84 percent, Genting Malaysia shed 0.77 percent, IHH Healthcare dropped 0.83 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.19 percent, Maxis tumbled 1.47 percent, Maybank collected 0.22 percent, MISC added 0.28 percent, MRDIY surged 4.03 percent, Petronas Chemicals skidded 0.97 percent, PPB Group lost 0.25 percent, Press Metal slumped 1.02 percent, Public Bank soared 2.17 percent, RHB Capital tanked 1.58 percent, Sime Darby jumped 1.77 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rose 0.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.20 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.81 percent, Westports Holdings declined 1.41 percent and CIMB Group, Genting, AMMB Holdings and QL Resources were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but faded as the day progressed, ending on opposite side of the unchanged line.

The Dow sank 168.33 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 34,721.91, while the NASDAQ added 15.66 points or 0.11 percent to close at 14,034.97 and the S&P 500 eased 7.21 points or 0.16 percent to end at 4,507.66.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a Commerce Department report showing consumer price growth in the U.S. accelerated in line with forecasts in July.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched jobs report later today.

Crude oil moved sharply higher on Thursday, advancing for the sixth consecutive session following another steep drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate for October delivery surged $2 or 2.5 percent to $83.63 a barrel, a three-week closing high.