Malaysia Bourse Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 20 points or 1.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,545-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the telecoms and plantations, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index added 5.62 points or 0.37 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,543.75 after moving as low as 1,533.80.

Among the actives, Axiata strengthened 1.07 percent, while Celcomdigi climbed 1.06 percent, Genting gained 0.60 percent, Genting Malaysia and Telekom Malaysia both perked 0.34 percent, IHH Healthcare slumped 0.49 percent, IOI Corporation surged 1.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong increased 0.73 percent, Maxis spiked 1.41 percent, Maybank collected 0.31 percent, MISC rallied 1.08 percent, MRDIY added 0.68 percent, Petronas Chemicals advanced 0.88 percent, PPB Group jumped 1.19 percent, Press Metal improved 0.86 percent, Public Bank was up 0.24 percent, QL Resources rose 0.50 percent, RHB Capital eased 0.18 percent, Sime Darby soared 1.50 percent, Sime Darby Plantations accelerated 1.39 percent, Tenaga Nasional picked up 0.17 percent, YTL Corporation gathered 0.40 percent, YTL Power plummeted 1.91 percent and CIMB Group and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and stayed modestly lower for the rest of the day.

The Dow dropped 137.66 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 28,905.66, while the NASDAQ sank 49.24 points or 0.30 percent to close at 16,128.53 and the S&P 500 fell 14.83 points or 0.29 percent to end at 5,150.48.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about the Federal Reserve further postponing its first interest rate cut following the release of hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data for February.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales rebounded in February, although the increase fell short of estimates.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, extending gains from the previous day as the International Energy Agency (IEA) upwardly raised its global demand growth forecast. West Texas International Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.54 or 1.9 percent at $81.26 a barrel.