Win Streak May Continue For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 6 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,635-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, fueled by support from the technology companies. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished barely higher on Tuesday following a mixed picture from the financial and plantation sectors and weakness from the telecoms.

For the day, the index perked 0.33 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 1,635.62 after trading between 1,629.22 and 1,638.87.

Among the actives, Axiata and YTL Corporation both shed 0.41 percent, while Celcomdigi plunged 2.45 percent, Genting sank 0.48 percent, Genting Malaysia tumbled 1.66 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.42 percent, IOI Corporation skidded 0.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 0.38 percent, Maybank fell 0.19 percent, MISC tanked 2.19 percent, MRDIY soared 2.40 percent, Petronas Chemicals dropped 0.51 percent, Petronas Dagangan plummeted 2.61 percent, PPB Group retreated 1.62 percent, Press Metal slumped 0.59 percent, Public Bank collected 0.22 percent, QL Resources and SD Guthrie both lost 0.21 percent, RHB Bank advanced 0.65 percent, Sime Darby declined 0.80 percent, Sunway and Tenaga Nasional both rallied 1.43 percent, Telekom Malaysia slid 0.15 percent, YTL Power surged 2.80 percent and CIMB Group, Maxis and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed but quickly moved up into positive territory and stayed that way.

The Dow jumped 126.13 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 42,080.37, while the NASDAQ rallied 259.01 points or 1.45 percent to end at 18,182.92 and the S&P 500 advanced 55.19 points or 0.97 percent to close at 5,751.13.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders went shopping for bargains, especially among the technology companies.

In economic news, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $70.4 billion in August 2024, the lowest in five months, from an upwardly revised $78.9 billion in July. Exports increased 2 percent to a record high of $271.8 billion, while imports dropped 0.9 percent to $342.2 billion.

Data on U.S. consumer price and producer price inflation are due later in the week.

Oil prices tumbled Tuesday as supply disruptions concerns eased a bit on reports Israel is unlikely to attack Iranian oil facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $3.57 or 4.63 percent at $73.57 a barrel.