Malaysia Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had shed more than a dozen points or 0.7 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,640-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected following recent optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Monday as the financials, plantations and telecoms were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index perked 3.22 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 1,638.96 after trading between 1,634.72 and 1,643.95.

Among the actives, Axiata added 0.41 percent, while Celcomdigi fell 0.28 percent, Genting skidded 0.92 percent, Genting Malaysia gained 0.40 percent, IHH Healthcare shed 0.32 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rallied 1.13 percent, Maxis climbed 0.56 percent, Maybank collected 0.96 percent, MISC was up 0.12 percent, MRDIY advanced 0.48 percent, Petronas Chemicals rose 0.35 percent, PPB Group dropped 0.56 percent, Press Metal spiked 1.36 percent, Public Bank sank 0.44 percent, QL Resources lost 0.30 percent, Sime Darby jumped 1.14 percent, SD Guthrie and Hong Leong Financial both perked 0.22 percent, Sunway surged 2.49 percent, Telekom Malaysia declined 1.31 percent, Tenaga Nasional soared 1.46 percent, YTL Corporation retreated 1.62 percent, YTL Power tumbled 2.18 percent and CIMB Group, IOI Corporation and RHB Capital were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but quickly headed south, eventually all ending under water.

The Dow dipped 0.02 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 41,175.08, while the NASDAQ sank 152.03 points or 0.85 percent to close at 17,725.77 and the S&P 500 lost 17.77 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,616.84.

The Dow found mild support from 3M Co. (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO) and Walt Disney (DIS). On the other hand, substantial weakness among semiconductor stocks weighed on the NASDAQ, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 2.5 percent.

Within the semiconductor sector, AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) slumped by 2.3 percent ahead of the release of its fiscal second quarter results on Wednesday.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a sharp increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in July.

The price of crude oil moved sharply higher on Monday, extending recent gains amid renewed geopolitical concerns after Hezbollah and Israeli forces exchanged attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery shot up $2.36 or 3.2 percent to $77.19 a barrel.