Lower Open Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Friday, one day after snapping the four-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,575-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious ahead of the FOMC meeting later this week. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the industrials and a mixed picture from the plantations, financials and telecoms.

For the day, the index fell 3.47 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 1,573.73 after trading between 1,566.84 and 1,577.50.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slumped 1.32 percent, while Axiata gained 0.45 percent, Celcomdigi rallied 1.34 percent, CIMB Group increased 0.50 percent, Gamuda tumbled 2.33 percent, IHH Healthcare and MISC both rose 0.28 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 0.79 percent, Maxis climbed 0.85 percent, Maybank collected 0.39 percent, Nestle Malaysia eased 0.02 percent, Petronas Chemicals and Sunway both gathered 0.22 percent, Petronas Dagangan surged 2.37 percent, Petronas Gas spiked 1.87 percent, PPB Group soared 2.03 percent, Press Metal added 0.60 percent, Public Bank fell 0.23 percent, QL Resources improved 0.65 percent, RHB Bank perked 0.16 percent, Sime Darby shed 0.46 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.29 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 10.92 percent, YTL Power plunged 10.86 percent and Telekom Malaysia, SD Guthrie, Hong Leong Bank, IOI Corporation and MRDIY were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened barely higher on Friday but quickly turned lower and spent the balance of the session in the red.

The Dow stumbled 140.85 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 44,424.25, while the NASDAQ sank 99.40 points or 0.50 percent to close at 19,954.30 and the S&P 500 fell 17.47 points or 0.29 percent to end at 6,101.24. For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow surged 2.2 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P 500 both jumped 1.7 percent.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street reflected concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting this week.

Recent economic data has led to concerns about the Fed leaving rates on hold for a prolonged period, but many economists still expect the central bank to resume cutting rates sometime in the first half of the year.

On U.S. economic front, data from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated by more than estimated in January. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales jumped much more than expected in December

Oil futures were roughly flat on Friday, continuing to look for support after the Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell less than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $74.66 a barrel to snap a six-day losing streak. WTI crude futures lost 3 percent in the week.