Malaysia Stock Market May End Losing Streak

The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, slipping almost 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,440-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher ahead of key employment data from the United States later today. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets also figure to track higher.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the telecoms were offset by support from the financials and a mixed bag from the plantation stocks.

For the day, the index eased 2.97 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 1,442.85 after trading between 1,441.02 and 1,447.66.

Among the actives, Axiata lost 0.42 percent, while Celcomdigi tumbled 1.20 percent, CIMB Group gathered 0.17 percent, Dialog Group plummeted 2.46 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.12 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.34 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 1.01 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 0.66 percent, Maxis sank 0.51 percent, Maybank perked 0.11 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.32 percent, Petronas Chemicals stumbled 1.14 percent, PPB Group climbed 1.00 percent, Press Metal tanked 1.24 percent, Public Bank rose 0.24 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.37 percent, Sime Darby rallied 1.28 percent, Sime Darby Plantations declined 1.11 percent, Tenaga Nasional dropped 0.90 percent, Westports Holdings added 0.56 percent and MISC, Telekom Malaysia, Genting and AMMB Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and largely stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow gained 62.95 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 36,117.38, while the NASDAQ surged 193.28 points or 1.37 percent to end at 14,339.99 and the S&P 500 added 36.25 points or 0.80 percent to close at 4,585.59.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

The jobs report could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking to the jobs data to provide further evidence the central bank could cut rates as soon as March 2024.

Oil futures settled slightly lower Thursday amid lingering uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand due to global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $0.04 at $69.34 a barrel.