Malaysia Stock Market Tipped To End Losing Streak

The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, giving up almost 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,425-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian market figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and telecoms, while the plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 6.95 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 1,425.68 after trading between 1,424.53 and 1,433.68.

Among the actives, CIMB Group declined 1.76 percent, while Dialog Group lost 0.45 percent, Digi.com retreated 1.12 percent, Genting sank 0.87 percent, Genting Malaysia skidded 1.11 percent, INARI climbed 1.30 percent, IOI Corporation eased 0.26 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 0.37 percent, Maxis jumped 1.84 percent, Maybank shed 0.57 percent, MISC rose 0.27 percent, Petronas Chemicals rallied 1.53 percent, Press Metal plummeted 2.20 percent, Public Bank slumped 0.75 percent, RHB Capital dropped 0.90 percent, Sime Darby added 0.47 percent, Sime Darby Plantations advanced 0.92 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.39 percent, Tenaga Nasional tumbled 1.85 percent and Axiata, IHH Healthcare, PPB Group, MRDIY, QL Resources and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages opened higher and the NASDAQ and S&P 500 finished firmly in positive territory, while the Dow ended just below the unchanged line.

The Dow dipped 30.48 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 33,531.33, while the NASDAQ jumped 126.89 points or 1.04 percent to end at 12,306.44 and the S&P 500 added 18.47 points or 0.45 percent to close at 4,137.64.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department’s highly anticipated report on consumer prices, which said inflation matched estimates and rose in April.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth eased to 4.9 percent in April from 5.0 percent in March. That marked the smallest 12-month increase since April 2021 and added to optimism about the Federal Reserve pausing its interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices showed a notable move to the downside on Wednesday, giving back ground after closing high for three straight sessions. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery slumped $1.15 or 1.6 percent to $72.56 a barrel after peaking at $73.71 in the previous session.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see unemployment data for March later today; in February, the jobless rate was 3.5 percent.