Malaysia Stock Market Poised To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 35 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,420-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on continuing fears of a financial crisis. The European markets were sharply lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The KLCI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the telecoms and entertainment stocks were mitigated by support from the plantations and a mixed picture from the financials. For the day, the index shed 11.25 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 1,421.83 after trading between 1,409.93 and 1,423.66.

Among the actives, Axiata slumped 0.97 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 0.57 percent, Dialog Group fell 0.42 percent, Digi.com lost 0.46 percent, Genting eased 0.22 percent, Genting Malaysia stumbled 1.13 percent, IHH Healthcare spiked 1.70 percent, INARI declined 1.23 percent, IOI Corporation surged 2.63 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.19 percent, Maybank collected 0.48 percent, Maxis tumbled 1.27 percent, MISC dropped 0.69 percent, MRDIY plunged 2.35 percent, Petronas Chemicals rallied 1.43 percent, Press Metal gained 0.40 percent, Public Bank was down 0.25 percent, RHB Capital shed 0.53 percent, Sime Darby Plantations added 0.47 percent, Telekom Malaysia retreated 1.21 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.64 percent and PPB Group, Sime Darby, AMMB Holdings and Petronas Dagangan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent most of Monday bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow dropped 90.50 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 31,819.14, while the NASDAQ added 49.96 points or 0.45 percent to close at 11,188.84 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.83 points or 0.15 percent to end at 3,855.76.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came on continued concerns over the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank collapse - which triggered heavy selling, particularly in the banking sector.

Over the weekend, the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said they would "fully protect" depositors, including those with assets above the federally guaranteed $250,000 limit, but traders were not reassured.

Investors are also nervous ahead of the ECB meeting and key inflation data due out later this week.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday amid worries that a U.S. banking debacle may follow last week's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled lower by $1.88 or 2.4 percent at $74.80 a barrel.