Malaysia Bourse May Hand Back Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Monday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,585-point plateau although it may head south again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as investors wait for developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and flat and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the telecoms and industrials were capped by weakness from the plantations and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index added 8.62 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 1,584.96 after trading between 1,575.48 and 1,588.61.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail soared 4.60 percent, while AMMB Holdings slumped 1.09 percent, Celcomdigi gained 0.27 percent, CIMB Group advanced 1.10 percent, Gamuda rallied 1.79 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.10 percent, Maxis shed 0.29 percent, Maybank fell 0.20 percent, MRDIY dropped 0.64 percent, Nestle Malaysia sank 0.55 percent, Petronas Chemicals accelerated 2.53 percent, Petronas Dagangan improved 1.15 percent, Petronas Gas added 0.53 percent, PPB Group stumbled 1.46 percent, Public Bank collected 0.22 percent, QL Resources rose 0.24 percent, Sime Darby climbed 1.19 percent, SD Guthrie jumped 1.64 percent, Sunway lost 0.21 percent, Telekom Malaysia strengthened 1.41 percent, YTL Corporation surged 4.63 percent, YTL Power spiked 3.81 percent and IHH Healthcare, IOI Corporation, Axiata, Press Metal, RHB Bank, Tenaga Nasional and MISC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed but moved little, hugging the line all day and ending on opposite sides.

The Dow shed 34.30 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 44,911.82, while the NASDAQ rose 6.80 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,629.77 and the S&P 500 eased 0.65 points or 0.01 percent to end at 6,449.15.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders kept an eye on the White House, where President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders.

The meetings at the White House come after Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday which failed to result in a concrete agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine.

On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Home Builders reported a modest deterioration by U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of August.

Crude oil priced climbed on Monday as investors focused their attention on the meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents amid rising geopolitical tensions surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.60 or 0.96 percent at $63.40 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide July data for imports, exports and trade balance later today; in June, imports were up 1.2 percent on year and exports fell an annual 3.5 percent for a trade surplus of MYR8.60 billion.