The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,585-point plateau although it may head south again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation, thanks to sliding crude oil prices and coronavirus concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished slightly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the plantation stocks.
For the day, the index rose 1.89 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 1,583.48 after trading between 1,580.14 and 1,586.37. Volume was 4.748 billion shares worth 2.888 billion ringgit. There were 633 gainers and 439 decliners.
Among the actives, Axiata perked 0.75 percent, while CIMB Group tumbled 1.01 percent, Dialog Group improved 0.74 percent, Digi.com accelerated 1.14 percent, Genting spiked 1.18 percent, Genting Malaysia surged 2.60 percent, IHH Healthcare skidded 0.79 percent, IOI Corporation plummeted 1.75 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gathered 0.96 percent, Maybank sank 0.72 percent, Maxis lost 0.22 percent, MISC gained 0.14 percent, MRDIY soared 2.34 percent, Petronas Chemicals dropped 0.62 percent, PPB Group rose 0.11 percent, Press Metal skyrocketed 5.26 percent, Public Bank collected 0.24 percent, RHB Capital advanced 0.55 percent, Sime Darby Plantations tanked 1.02 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.17 percent, Top Glove plunged 1.34 percent and Hartalega Holdings, Tenaga Nasional and Sime Darby were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as Dow and S&P opened in the red on Tuesday and finished the same way, while the NASDAQ opened slightly higher and managed to hold on to slim gains for a fresh record high.
The Dow dropped 269.09 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 35,100.00, while the NASDAQ added 10.81 points or 0.07 percent to close at 15,374.33 and the S&P 500 fell 15.40 points or 0.34 percent to end at 4,520.03.
The mixed open on Wall Street resulted in a cautious session with investors weighing the likely impact of surging coronavirus of the Delta variant on the pace of economic recovery.
Crude oil futures settled notably lower on Tuesday amid renewed worries about the outlook for energy demand due to continued surge in coronavirus cases in several countries. The drop in prices was also due to Saudi Arabia’s decision to slash crude prices for Asia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $0.94 or 1.4 percent at $68.35 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Malaysia Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound
2021-09-07 23:32:51
