Malaysia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just shy of the 1,475-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished barely higher on Tuesday as gains from the plantations and telecoms were offset by weakness from the financials.

For the day, the index perked 0.01 point or 0.00 percent to finish at 1,474.69 after trading between 1,468.15 and 1,477.43.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings tumbled 1.36 percent, while Axiata gained 1.01 percent, CIMB Group and RHB Capital both retreated 1.57 percent, Dialog Group gathered 1.26 percent, Digi.com jumped 2.08 percent, Genting strengthened 1.83 percent, Genting Malaysia improved 1.52 percent, IHH Healthcare and MRDIY both perked 0.49 percent, INARI and Tenaga Nasional both rose 0.76 percent, IOI Corporation soared 3.59 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong spiked 2.55 percent, Maybank stumbled 1.59 percent, Maxis and Petronas Chemicals both advanced 1.31 percent, MISC added 1.24 percent, PPB Group dipped 0.11 percent, Press Metal rallied 2.35 percent, Public Bank plummeted 3.15 percent, Sime Darby increased 1.37 percent, Sime Darby Plantations surged 5.06 percent, Telekom Malaysia climbed 1.56 percent and Nestle was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, with only the Dow managing to break barely into positive territory.

The Dow rose 37.63 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 33,241.56, while the NASDAQ tumbled 144.64 points or 1.38 percent to end at 10,353.23 and the S&P 500 sank 15.57 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,829.25.

The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected lingering concerns about the economic outlook following recent indications the Federal Reserve plans to continuing raising interest rates.

The markets got a lift when treasuries moved sharply lower, extending the downward trend seen over the past several sessions.

Bond prices came under pressure in early trading and saw further downside as the day progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 10.9 basis points to 3.860 percent.

Crude oil prices pared gains and settled roughly flat on Tuesday after refineries in the Gulf Coast restarted after a temporary closure. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled flat at $79.53 a barrel.