Soft Start Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 25 points or 1.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,660-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative after the Federal Reserve announced its well-telegraphed rate cut. The European and U.S. markets saw mild losses and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index shed 3.69 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 1,660.59 after trading between 1,654.00 and 1,664.78.

Among the actives, Axiata climbed 0.80 percent, while Celcomdigi fell 0.27 percent, CIMB Group lost 0.36 percent, Genting skidded 0.96 percent, IHH Healthcare jumped 0.85 percent, IOI Corporation plunged 1.54 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 1.05 percent, Maybank perked 0.19 percent, MRDIY added 0.51 percent, Petronas Chemicals retreated 1.08 percent, PPB Group dropped 0.83 percent, Press Metal slumped 0.87 percent, Public Bank gathered 0.21 percent, QL Resources sank 0.64 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.65 percent, Sime Darby rallied 2.59 percent, Sunway gained 0.49 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.30 percent, Tenaga Nasional shed 0.54 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 3.50 percent, YTL Power tumbled 1.12 percent and Genting Malaysia, MISC, Maxis, SD Guthrie and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages hugged the line until the Fed’s monetary policy announcement; after an initial spike, they turned lower and ended in the red.

The Dow sank 103.08 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 41,503.10, while the NASDAQ shed 54.76 points or 0.31 percent to close at 17,573.30 and the S&P 500 fell 16.32 points or 0.29 percent to end at 5,618.26.

The late-day volatility on Wall Street came after the Fed decided to lower interest rates for the first time in over four years, aggressively slashing rates by half a percentage point.

The economic projections provided by Fed officials at the meeting suggested the central bank will cut rates by another 50 basis points by the end of the year.

Fed officials also expect to continue lowering rates next year, with the projections indicating rates will be lower by another full percentage point by the end of 2025.

Thanks to profit taking, crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, despite a drop in U.S. crude inventories and the rate cut. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended down $0.28 or 0.39 percent at $70.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see August data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In July, imports surged 25.4 percent on year and exports rose an annual 12.3 percent for a trade surplus of MYR6.40 billion.

Market Analysis