Steady Start Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has ticked lower in two straight sessions, slipping more than 6 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,610-point plateau although it's likely to find mild support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key economic data later in the day. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and plantation stocks, while the telecoms were mixed.

For the day, the index dipped 2.88 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 1,611.49 after trading between 1,609.26 and 1,617.37.

Among the actives, Axiata shed 0.71 percent, while Celcomdigi skidded 0.78 percent, CIMB Group sank 0.72 percent, Genting was up 0.21 percent, Genting Malaysia stumbled 1.53 percent, IOI Corporation and MRDIY both lost 0.52 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 1.34 percent, Maxis advanced 0.82 percent, Maybank and Hong Leong Bank both eased 0.10 percent, MISC gained 0.47 percent, Petronas Chemicals tumbled 1.79 percent, PPB Group slumped 1.09 percent, Press Metal rallied 2.78 percent, Public Bank dropped 0.73 percent, Sime Darby plummeted 3,64 percent, SD Guthrie retreated 1.39 percent, Telekom Malaysia surged 4.77 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 0.58 percent, YTL Corporation rose 0.28 percent and YTL Power, QL Resources, RHB Capital, IHH Healthcare and AMMB Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday but trended to the upside as the day progressed and ended mixed.

The Dow slumped 120.62 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 38,747.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 151.02 points or 0.88 percent to close at a record 17,343.55 and the S&P 500 added 14.53 points or 0.27 percent to end at 5,375.32 - also a record.

The advance by the tech-heavy NASDAQ was partly due to a surge by shares of Apple (AAPL), with the tech giant surging 7.3 percent to a record after unveiling new AI features that may drive users to upgrade their devices.

But traders are looking ahead to two potentially major market moving economic events later today - the Labor Department's inflation report for May, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement as well as officials' latest projections for the economy and interest rates.

Oil futures settled slightly higher Tuesday as caution reigned ahead of inventory data and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended up by $0.16 at $77.90 a barrel.