Malaysia Bourse May Stop The Bleeding On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, dipping almost 10 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just shy of the 1,595-point plateau, although it's expected to bounce higher on Monday.

The global forecast for Asian markets is positive, with bargain hunting expected after some heavy selling last week. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index eased 3.20 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 1,594.29 after trading between 1,586.39 and 1,603.59.

Among the actives, Celcomdigi lost 0.28 percent, while Genting fell 0.28 percent, Genting Malaysia jumped 1.89 percent, IHH Healthcare and QL Resources both added 0.41 percent, IOI Corporation skidded 1.04 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 0.67 percent, Maxis declined 1.14 percent, MISC plunged 2.03 percent, MRDIY sank 0.55 percent, Nestle Malaysia advanced 0.73 percent, Petronas Chemicals shed 0.43 percent, PPB Group retreated 1.20 percent, Press Metal slumped 0.85 percent, Public Bank strengthened 1.36 percent, RHB Bank rallied 1.35 percent, Sime Darby stumbled 1.30 percent, SD Guthrie climbed 1.26 percent, Tenaga Nasional plummeted 2.29 percent, YTL Corporation tumbled 1.42 percent, YTL Power tanked 1.45 percent and Axiata, Sunway, Telekom Malaysia, Maybank and CIMB Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages returned from Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday by opening in the green on Friday and continuing to pick up steam as the shortened session progressed, ending near the day's highs.

The Dow jumped 188.59 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 44,910.65, while the NASDAQ rallied 157.69 points or 0.83 percent to close at 19,218.17 and the S&P 500 gained 33.64 points or 0.56 percent to end at 6,032.38.

For the holiday-interrupted week, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both jumped 1.1 percent, while the narrower Dow surged 1.4 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following pullback seen on Wednesday.

Semiconductor stocks led the rebound, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbing by 1.5 percent after hitting its lowest intraday level in over two months in the previous session.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday after OPEC postponed its meeting to Dec. 5, despite expectations the group will delay production increases. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January shed $0.72 or 1.1 percent at $68.00 a barrel. WTI crude futures lost 4.5 percent in the week.