Rebound Predicted For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday ended the modest two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 6 points or 0.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,635-point plateau although it’s tipped to move back to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KLCI finished barely lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index eased 0.71 points or 0.04 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,634.91 after peaking at 1,642.29.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi declined 1.40 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 0.88 percent, Genting retreated 1.44 percent, Genting Malaysia lost 0.42 percent, IHH Healthcare fell 0.41 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong sank 0.47 percent, Maxis tumbled 1.88 percent, Maybank collected 0.19 percent, MISC climbed 1.31 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.88 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 3.45 percent, PPB Group skidded 0.96 percent, Press Metal plummeted 3.75 percent, QL Resources perked 0.21 percent, Sime Darby slumped 1.20 percent, SD Guthrie tanked 1.92 percent, Sunway rose 0.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.46 percent, Tenaga Nasional rallied 1.69 percent, YTL Power dropped 0.82 percent and Axiata, RHB Bank, Public Bank and YTL Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday but tracked consistently higher as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 431.63 points or 1.03 percent to finish at a record 42,512.00, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.70 points or 0.60 percent to close at 18,291.62 and the S&P 500 rallied 40.91 points or 0.71 percent to also end at a record high 5,792.04.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, which showed that most members favored the larger rate cut rather than a smaller one, generating optimism for future cuts.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit shrank to $70.4 billion in August from a revised $78.9 billion in July. Economists had expected the trade deficit to decrease to $70.6 billion from the $78.8 billion originally reported for the previous month.

Crude oil prices fell Wednesday after data showed a big jump in crude inventories which outweighed possible supply disruptions due to Hurricane Milton and Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November fell $0.33 or 0.45 percent at $73.24 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see August numbers for unemployment later today; in July, the jobless rate was 3.3 percent.