Steady Start Eyed For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 15 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,660-point plateau although it may find traction on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement amidst a lack of catalysts. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financials and industrials and mixed performances from the plantations and telecoms.

For the day, the index shed 11.23 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 1,660.09 after trading between 1,658.49 and 1,668.59.

Among the actives, Axiata jumped 1.98 percent, while Celcomdigi sank 0.80 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.48 percent, Genting eased 0.24 percent, Genting Malaysia slid 0.42 percent, IHH Healthcare advanced 0.70 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 0.79 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 0.87 percent, Maxis skidded 1.01 percent, Maybank stumbled 1.50 percent, MRDIY tanked 2.33 percent, Petronas Chemicals and Sunway both shed 0.70 percent, PPB Group soared 2.32 percent, Press Metal surged 3.28 percent, Public Bank retreated 1.71 percent, QL Resources lost 0.65 percent, RHB Bank declined 1.29 percent, Sime Darby dipped 0.41 percent, SD Guthrie rallied 1.26 percent, Telekom Malaysia climbed 1.21 percent, Tenaga Nasional tumbled 1.74 percent, YTL Corporation plunged 3.11 percent, YTL Power plummeted 4.70 percent and MISC and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but wound up mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 137.89 points or 0.33 percent to finish at a record 42,313,00, while the NASDAQ slumped 70.70 points or 0.39 percent to close at 18,119.59 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.20 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,738.17. For the week, the NASDAQ climbed 1.0 percent and the Dow and S&P both rose 0.6 percent.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came following the release of closely watched readings on U.S. consumer price inflation in August.

The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures price index inched up by 0.1 percent in August after rising 0.2 percent in July. The uptick matched expectations.

Oil futures closed higher on Friday as additional stimulus measures from the Chinese government eased concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.51 or at $68.18 a barrel.