Malaysia Bourse May Test Support At 1,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one session after snapping the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,415-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the health of the financial sectors, although support from technology stocks should limit the downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index sank 10.94 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 1,414.25 after trading between 1,412.75 and 1,422.48.

Among the actives, Axiata weakened 1.00 percent, while CIMB Group plunged 2.13 percent, Digi.com eased 0.23 percent, Genting stumbled 1.06 percent, Genting Malaysia and Nestle both fell 0.37 percent, INARI skidded 0.87 percent, IOI Corporation tanked 1.81 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and AMMB Holding both slid 0.27 percent, Maxis surrendered 1.15 percent, Maybank shed 0.46 percent, MISC retreated 1.09 percent, MRDIY plummeted 2.52 percent, Petronas Chemicals sank 0.69 percent, Press Metal lost 0.40 percent, Public Bank slumped 1.02 percent, RHB Capital dropped 0.72 percent, Sime Darby Plantations declined 1.12 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.61 percent, Tenaga Nasional tumbled 1.23 percent and PPB Group, Sime Darby, Dialog Group, IHH Healthcare and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, but the Dow and S&P 500 quickly fell into the red while the NASDAQ stayed positive throughout the day.

The Dow stumbled 228.96 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 33,301.87, while the NASDAQ gained 55.19 points or 0.47 percent to close at 11,854.35 and the S&P 500 fell 15.64 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,055.99.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat tech earnings against renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

The rebound by the NASDAQ reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Microsoft (MSFT) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), among others.

On the other hand, shares of First Republic (FRC) extended the steep drop seen in the previous session, which came after the regional bank reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, renewing concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged much more than expected in March amid a substantial rebound in orders for transportation equipment.

Crude oil futures ended sharply lower Wednesday as worries about the outlook for energy demand dragged down oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June were down $2.77 or 3.6 percent to settle at $74.30 a barrel.