Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in back-to-back trading days, gathering more than 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,525-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and sinking crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the glove makers and mixed performances from the financials and plantations.

For the day, the index rose 1.65 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 1,525.24 after trading between 1,518.95 and 1,526.34. Volume was 3.797 billion shares worth 2.2 billion ringgit. There were 472 decliners and 436 gainers.

Among the actives, Axiata sank 0.51 percent, while CIMB Group collected 0.22 percent, Dialog Group retreated 0.75 percent, Digi.com skidded 0.93 percent, Genting lost 0.42 percent, Genting Malaysia declined 0.70 percent, Hartalega Holdings spiked 1.98 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.17 percent, IOI Corporation tanked 1.55 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rallied 1.95 percent, Maxis plunged 1.80 percent, MISC jumped 1.32 percent, MRDIY plummeted 2.32 percent, Petronas Chemicals dipped 0.13 percent, Press Metal tumbled 0.98 percent, Public Bank fell 0.25 percent, RHB Capital advanced 0.57 percent, Sime Darby added 0.46 percent, Sime Darby Plantations soared 2.94 percent, Telekom Malaysia climbed 0.86 percent, Tenaga Nasional shed 0.50 percent, Top Glove surged 4.24 percent and Maybank and PPB Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday and hugged the line for much of the day but then accelerated into the red toward the close.

The Dow tumbled 382.59 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 34,960.69, while the NASDAQ dropped 130.27 points or 0.89 percent to close at 14,525.91 and the S&P 500 sank 47.81 points or 1.07 percent to end at 4,400.27.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as the Fed minutes revealed most officials at the central bank’s July monetary policy meeting believe it will be appropriate to begin tapering asset purchases this year.

The minutes showed participants also expressed a range of views on the appropriate pace of tapering asset purchases once economic conditions satisfied the “substantial further progress” criterion.

Reflecting the recent surge in new cases of the delta variant of the coronavirus, several participants noted their views on the appropriate path of asset purchases could change if the economic effects of the new strains of the virus turn out to be notably worse than anticipated.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid the surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus in several countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.13 or 1.7 percent at $65.46 a barrel, the lowest close since May 21.