Malaysia Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure On Thursday

Ahead of the long break for Eid-ul-Fitr, the Malaysia stock market had moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,600-point plateau although it’s due for consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism regarding the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the telecoms and a mixed picture from the financial shares.

For the day, the index rose 3.12 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 1,600.43 after trading between 1,595.78 and 1,605.02. Volume was 2.818 billion shares worth 2.068 billion ringgit. There were 566 gainers and 390 decliners.

Among the actives, CIMB Group and Sime Darby Plantations both rose 0.19 percent, while Dialog Group added 0.40 percent, Digi.com tumbled 1.04 percent, Genting surged 2.43 percent, Genting Malaysia soared 2.35 percent, Hartalega Holdings slumped 0.45 percent, IHH Healthcare skidded 0.60 percent, INARI fell 0.35 percent, IOI Corporation was down 0.21 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 0.61 percent, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional both gained 0.33 percent, Maxis dipped 0.26 percent, MRDIY accelerated 1.15 percent, Petronas Chemicals spiked 1.19 percent, Petronas Dagangan skyrocketed 5.43 percent, Public Bank lost 0.42 percent, RHB Capital jumped 0.97 percent, Sime Darby shed 0.43 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 0.60 percent and Top Glove, Hong Leong Financial, PPB Group, Press Metal, Axiata and MISC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages hugged the unchanged line for most of the day before skyrocketing in the final hour.

The Dow surged 932.27 points or 2.81 percent to finish at 34,061.06, while the NASDAQ soared 401.10 points or 3.19 percent to end at 12,964.86 and the S&P 500 jumped 124.69 points or 2.99 percent to close at 4,300.17.

The late-day rally on Wall Street came after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank does not plan to raise interest rates as aggressively as some had feared.

The comments from Powell came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by half a percentage point in an effort to return elevated inflation to its 2 percent objective – even though overall U.S. economy activity edged down in the first quarter.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management showed an unexpected slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in April. Also, payroll processor ADP showed U.S. private sector job growth slowed more than expected last month.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday, lifted by the European Union’s decision to impose sanctions on Russian oil. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June climbed $5.58 or 5.5 percent to $107.79 a barrel.