Malaysia Stock Market May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping more than 20 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,530-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cloudy on lingering concerns over U.S. trade policy. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the telecoms and financials, while the plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 7.40 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 1,530.14 after trading between 1,526.27 and 1,531.14.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slumped 1.33 percent, while AMMB Holdings contracted 1.34 percent, Axiata slid 0.43 percent, Celcomdigi weakened 0.26 percent, CIMB Group plunged 2.07 percent, Gamuda declined 1.41 percent, IHH Healthcare dipped 0.30 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.26 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong perked 0.19 percent, Maxis tanked 1.93 percent, Maybank eased 0.21 percent, MISC sank 0.79 percent, MRDIY retreated 1.76 percent, Nestle Malaysia soared 2.15 percent, Petronas Chemicals slipped 0.29 percent, Petronas Dagangan gained 0.37 percent, PPB Group dropped 1.16 percent, Press Metal tumbled 1.89 percent, Public Bank collected 0.23 percent, QL Resources was down 0.22 percent, RHB Bank skidded 1.25 percent, Sime Darby spiked 1.82 percent, SD Guthrie shed 0.63 percent, Sunway plummeted 2.86 percent, Telekom Malaysia stumbled 2.21 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 0.43 percent, YTL Corporation rallied 1.24 percent, YTL Power surged 6.39 percent and Petronas Gas was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent most of Tuesday's trade hugging the line, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 165.60 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 44,240.76, while the NASDAQ rose 5.95 points or 0.03 percent to close at 20,418.46 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.46 points or 0.07 percent to end at 6,225.52.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as investors were reluctant to make significant moves amid lingering uncertainty about President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may also have kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

The Fed minutes may shed light on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the central bank's next meeting on July 29-30. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 95.3 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged this month.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday on concerns over disruptions to the oil supply lines due to Houthi attacks. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed up by $0.40 at $68.33 per barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Malaysia will conclude its monetary policy meeting later today and announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 3.00 percent.