Malaysia Shares May Remain Stuck In Neutral

The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 5 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,415-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index eased 0.24 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 1,415.60 after trading between 1,412.17 and 1,420.61.

Among the actives, Axiata and Hong Leong Bank both gained 0.41 percent, while Celcomdigi retreated 1.40 percent, CIMB Group perked 0.19 percent, Dialog Group declined 0.96 percent, Genting slid 0.25 percent, Genting Malaysia rallied 0.82 percent, IHH Healthcare and Maybank both rose 0.34 percent, IOI Corporation gathered 0.26 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong sank 0.28 percent, Maxis and Public Bank both lost 0.25 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.99 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.65 percent, Press Metal tumbled 1.69 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.37 percent, Sime Darby added 0.46 percent, Telekom Malaysia dipped 0.20 percent and Tenaga Nasional, Westports Holdings, Petronas Chemicals, Sime Darby Plantations and MISC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday, tumbled and then rebounded but still ended slightly under water.

The Dow dipped 9.98 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 33,119.57, while the NASDAQ fell 16.18 points or 0.12 percent to close at 13,219.83 and the S&P 500 eased 5.56 points or 0.13 percent to end at 4,258.19.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as traders remained worried about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched employment data later today.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, with a continue pullback by treasuries inspiring some traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels.

Ahead of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department reported a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday amid uncertainty about the outlook for demand and due to disappointment over OPEC’s decision to not increase the size of production cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.91 or 2.3 percent at $82.31 a barrel.