Little Movement Anticipated For Malaysia Shares

The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 20 points or 1.3 percent. Ther Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,550-point plateau and it’s likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with a lack of direction over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following weakness from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and plantations.

For the day, the index eased3.19 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 1,552.40 after trading between 1,547.49 and 1,554.95.

Among the actives, Axiata plummeted 3.46 percent, while Celcomdigi tumbled 1.37 percent, CIMB Group sank 0.47 percent, Genting rose 0.20 percent, Genting Malaysia lost 0.34 percent, IHH Healthcare was up 0.16 percent, IOI Corporation fell 0.25 percent, Maxis plunged 1.81 percent, Maybank gained 0.21 percent, MISC and Petronas Gas both slumped 0.66 percent, MRDIY declined 1.28 percent, Petronas Chemicals skidded 0.56 percent, Press Metal shed 0.42 percent, Public Bank collected 0.67 percent, QL Resources slid 0.17 percent, Sime Darby Plantations added 0.44 percent, Telekom Malaysia perked 0.17 percent, Tenaga Nasional gathered 0.18 percent, YTL Corporation retreated 1.33 percent, YTL Power dropped 0.51 percent and Petronas Dagangan, PPB Group, Sime Darby, RHB Capital, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and spent the vast majority of the session in the red, with only a late spurt lifting the Dow and S&P barely into the green.

The Dow added 48.44 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 38,612.24, while the NASDAQ lost 49.91 points or 0.32 percent to close at 15,580.87 and the S&P 500 rose 6.29 points or 0.13 percent to end at 4,981.80.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets for much of the session, with the major averages falling to their worst levels after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting revealed most officials remain wary of cutting interest rates “too quickly.”

However, the Fed said a couple of participants pointed to downside risks to the economy associated with maintaining an overly restrictive stance for too long. The late-day recovery may have reflected expectations the Fed will still eventually cut interest rates.

Oil prices rebounded from early losses and settled higher on Wednesday as concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East outweighed weak outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $0.87 or 1.1 percent at $77.91 a barrel.

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