Continued Carnage Called For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one session after snapping the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 7 points or 0.5 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,465-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is decidedly soft on concerns about the economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, glove makers and telecoms.

For the day, the index dropped 16.04 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 1,467.13 after trading between 1,466.25 and 1,482.11.

Among the actives, Axiata retreated 1.99 percent, while CIMB Group dropped 1.37 percent, Digi.com surrendered 2.63 percent, Genting was down 0.45 percent, Genting Malaysia lost 1.13 percent, Hartalega Holdings declined 2.55 percent, IHH Healthcare slipped 0.67 percent, INARI tumbled 2.92 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 1.86 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.38 percent, Maybank slid 0.80 percent, Maxis tanked 3.35 percent, MISC added 0.28 percent, MRDIY stumbled 1.96 percent, Petronas Chemicals, PPB Group fell 1.02 percent, Press Metal jumped 1.44 percent, Public Bank sank 1.35 percent, Sime Darby shed 1.34 percent, Telekom Malaysia plunged 5.56 percent, Tenaga Nasional skidded 1.39 percent, Top Glove plummeted 6.37 percent and Sime Darby Plantations, Dialog Group, RHB Capital and Nestle were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deep in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plummeted 773.26 points or 2.28 percent to finish at 33,193.09, while the NASDAQ plunged 356.54 points or 3.19 percent to close at 10.814.35 and the S&P 500 tumbled 99.45 points or 2.49 percent to end at 3,895.87.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continued to weigh on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday was more hawkish than expected.

A batch of disappointing U.S. economic data also added to concerns the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes will push the economy into a recession.

Retail sales dropped more than expected last month, as did industrial production. Also, the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserves showed contractions in regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday as concerns about easing supply following a partial restart of the Keystone Pipeline. The dollar’s rise on hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve weighed as well on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.17 or 1.5 percent at $76.11 a barrel.