Malaysia Bourse May Extend Thursday’s Losses

The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes for the last four trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had slumped more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,625-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to fears of an economic slowdown. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the plantations were offset by gains from the financial sector.

For the day, the index eased 1.32 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 1,624.25 after trading between 1,621.44 and 1,626.35.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi stumbled 1.32 percent, while Genting tanked 1.90 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.15 percent, Hong Leong Bank collected 0.52 percent, Hong Leong Financial advanced 0.93 percent, IHH Healthcare rose 0.32 percent, IOI Corporation skidded 0.79 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong increased 0.19 percent, Maxis tumbled 1.42 percent, Maybank added 0.39 percent, MISC eased 0.11 percent, MRDIY dropped 0.48 percent, Petronas Chemicals sank 0.34 percent, Petronas Dagangan plunged 2.82 percent, PPB Group was up 0.13 percent, Press Metal declined 1.12 percent, Public Bank jumped 1.19 percent, QL Resources fell 0.15 percent, RHB Capital gathered 0.18 percent, Sime Darby gained 0.38 percent, SD Guthrie lost 0.22 percent, Sunway plummeted 3.26 percent, Tenaga Nasional perked 0.14 percent, YTL Corporation slumped 0.88 percent, YTL Power improved 0.86 percent and Axiata, CIMB Group and Telekom Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and finished deep under water.

The Dow plummeted 494.82 points or 1.21 percent to finish at 40,347.97, while the NASDAQ tumbled 405.26 points or 2.30 percent to close at 17,194.14 and the S&P 500 sank 75.62 points or 1.37 percent to end at 5,446.68.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as disappointing data led to concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy and offset optimism about a near-term interest rate cut by Federal Reserve.

The Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in July.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in almost a year last week.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday on concerns about disappointing economic data and the outlook for oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.60 or about 2.05 percent at $76.31 a barrel.