Continued Support Predicted For Malaysia Shares

The Malaysia stock market on Monday ended the five-day losing streak in which it had slipped almost 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,445-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism for the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index rose 4.42 points or 0.31 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,446.39 after moving as low as 1,440.40.

Among the actives, Axiata slumped 0.86 percent, while Celcomdigi advanced 0.99 percent, CIMB Group improved 0.35 percent, Dialog Group tumbled 1.52 percent, Genting climbed 1.09 percent, IHH Healthcare increased 0.17 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 0.56 percent, Maybank was up 0.11 percent, MISC added 0.56 percent, MRDIY sank 0.65 percent, Petronas Chemicals soared 1.56 percent, PPB Group surged 2.26 percent, Press Metal perked 0.21 percent, Public Bank collected 0.24 percent, RHB Capital and QL Resources both gathered 0.18 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.85 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rallied 1.13 percent, Telekom Malaysia spiked 1.15 percent, Westports Holdings gained 0.28 percent and Genting Malaysia, Maxis, Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is modestly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all turned higher to finish with mild gains.

The Dow jumped 157.06 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 36,404.93, while the NASDAQ added 28.51 points or 0.20 percent to close at 14,432.49 and the S&P 500 rose 18.07 points or 0.39 percent to end at 4,622.44.

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, although stocks continued to benefit from the optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Optimism the Fed could pivot to cutting interest rates as soon as March 2024 has contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, although last Friday’s strong than expected jobs data has led to speculation the Fed could wait until May to begin lowering rates.

Crude oil futures settled marginally higher on Monday due to continued uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended with a small gain of $0.09 or 0.13 percent at $71.32 a barrel.