Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday halted the five-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 80 points or 5.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,510-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns and their effect on the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished sharply higher on Thursday following bargain hunting among the financial shares, telecoms, plantations and industrials.

For the day, the index rallied 25.20 points or 1.70 percent to finish at 1,510.03 after trading between 1,487.00 and 1,513.97.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail climbed 1.52 percent, while Axiata surged 4.52 percent, CIMB Group soared 3.57 percent, Gamuda accelerated 3.45 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.14 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong perked 0.10 percent, Maxis rose 0.62 percent, Maybank increased 1.18 percent, MISC fell 0.29 percent, MRDIY advanced 1.50 percent, Petronas Chemicals jumped 2.19 percent, Petronas Gas slumped 1.89 percent, PPB Group shed 0.34 percent, Press Metal strengthened 1.86 percent, Public Bank spiked 3.46 percent, QL Resources skidded 1.06 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.44 percent, Sime Darby sank 0.49 percent, SD Guthrie improved 1.26 percent, Sunway skyrocketed 5.76 percent, Telekom Malaysia stumbled 2.84 percent, Tenaga Nasional rallied 3.08 percent, YTL Corporation added 1.11 percent, YTL Power gained 0.67 percent and Celcomdigi, IOI Corporation and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red and continued to track lower throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 537.36 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 40,813.57, while the NASDAQ dropped 345.44 points or 1.96 percent to close at 17.303.01 and the S&P 500 sank 77.78 points or 1.39 percent to end at 5,521.52.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump's trade policies after he suggested the U.S. would respond to the European Union's countermeasures with even more tariffs.

In economic news, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in February. Also, the Labor Department unexpectedly saw a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil prices fell on Thursday amid prospects of excess supply in the market, and on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.13 or 1.7 percent at $66.55 a barrel.