Malaysia Stock Market May Reverse Thursday’s Losses

The Malaysia stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which is it had collected almost 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,670-point plateau although it’s expected to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit, although profit taking may take hold later in the day.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the plantation stocks and mixed performances from the financials and telecoms.

For the day, the index dipped 2.06 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 1,671.32 after trading between 1,666.19 and 1,672.60.

Among the actives, Axiata rallied 1.20 percent, while Genting Malaysia improved 0.85 percent, Hong Leong Financial surged 3.61 percent, IHH Healthcare rose 0.14 percent, IOI Corporation tumbled 1.30 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 0.10 percent, Maxis spiked 1.28 percent, Maybank lost 0.37 percent, MISC skidded 0.61 percent, MRDIY retreated 0.92 percent, Nestle Malaysia soared 2.54 percent, Petronas Chemicals climbed 1.06 percent, PPB Group dropped 0.54 percent, Press Metal sank 0.41 percent, Public Bank advanced 0.86 percent, QL Resources gained 0.43 percent, Sime Darby jumped 1.24 percent, SD Guthrie plunged 2.66 percent, Sunway added 0.47 percent, Telekom Malaysia declined 0.75 percent, Tenaga Nasional slumped 0.67 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 3.38 percent, YTL Power tanked 1.54 percent and Celcomdigi, CIMB Group, Genting, RHB Bank and Petronas Dagangan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and maintained a positive bias throughout the session.

The Dow rallied 260.36 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 42,175.11, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.09 points or 0.60 percent to end at 18,190.29 and the S&P 500 added 23.11 points or 0.40 percent to close at 5,745.37.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected strength in the tech sector, with chipmaker Micron (MU) helping lead the way higher after reporting better than expected quarterly results and providing strong fiscal revenue guidance.

Stocks also benefited from the release of upbeat U.S. economic data after the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week. The Commerce Department also reported that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in August.

Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC will return 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts back into the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $2.02 or 2.9 percent at $67.67 a barrel.