Rebound Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday ended the modest two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,630-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism ahead of key U.S. economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index shed 9.34 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 1,632.63.

Among the actives, Axiata retreated 1.24 percent, while Celcomdigi and Sime Darby both tumbled 1.65 percent, CIMB Group declined 1.21 percent, Genting soared 2.02 percent, Genting Malaysia surged 4.48 percent, IHH Healthcare skidded 0.96 percent, IOI Corporation dipped 0.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong plummeted 2.14 percent, Maxis jumped 1.33 percent, Maybank dropped 0.56 percent, MISC rose 0.13 percent, MRDIY rallied 1.40 percent, Petronas Chemicals sank 0.53 percent, PPB Group fell 0.42 percent, Press Metal tanked 2.28 percent, Public Bank shed 0.45 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.16 percent, SD Guthrie plunged 2.33 percent, Sunway stumbled 1.35 percent, Telekom Malaysia slumped 1.07 percent, Tenaga Nasional slid 0.41 percent, YTL Corporation lost 0.43 percent, YTL Power added 0.28 percent and QL Resources, Nestle Malaysia and Petronas Dagangan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly headed higher and finished well in positive territory.

The Dow rallied 337.28 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 43,077.70, while the NASDAQ gained 51.49 points or 0.28 percent to close at 18,367.08 and the S&P 500 added 27.21 points or 0.47 percent to end at 5,842.47.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on continued optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of the release of several key reports later this week including weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a continued decrease by prices for U.S. imports and exports in September.

Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about weak demand from China and easing geopolitical worries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.19 at $70.39 a barrel.