Malaysia Bourse May Reverse Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 6 points or 0.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,635-point plateau although it figures to rebound on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index lost 7.39 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 1,633.55 after trading between 1,631.89 and 1,643.07.

Among the actives, Axiata added 0.42 percent, while Celcomdigi and Genting Malaysia both clumped 0.84 percent, CIMB Group jumped 1.73 percent, Genting tumbled 1.45 percent, IHH Healthcare eased 0.14 percent, IOI Corporation climbed 0.80 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 0.47 percent, Maxis dropped 0.82 percent, Maybank gathered 0.19 percent, MISC perked 0.13 percent, MRDIY increased 0.46 percent, Nestle Malaysia rallied 0.87 percent, Petronas Chemicals gained 0.36 percent, PPB Group improved 0.55 percent, Press Metal fell 0.20 percent, Public Bank plummeted 5.69 percent, QL Resources lost 0.21 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.48 percent, Sime Darby plunged 2.40 percent, SD Guthrie sank 0.65 percent, Sunway surged 2.34 percent, Telekom Malaysia slid 0.15 percent, Tenaga Nasional advanced 0.56 percent, YTL Corporation tanked 2.00 percent, YTL Power rose 0.27 percent and Hong Leong Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but quickly moved to the upside and remained that way, ending near session highs.

The Dow rallied 409.76 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,863.86, while the NASDAQ added 60.94 points or 0.33 percent to close at 18,342.94 and the S&P 500 rose 34.98 points or 0.61 percent to end at 5,815.03. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P both gained 1.1 percent.

The strength on Wall Street partly a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September.

The data reinforced optimism that the Federal Reserve will continue lowering interest rates in the coming months, although hopes for another 50-basis point cut next month have largely evaporated.

On the corporate front, companies like Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) surged on strong quarterly results, while Tesla (TSLA) tumbled after unveiling its robotaxi.

Crude oil prices saw a modest pullback on Friday after surging in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery dipped $0.29 or 0.4 percent to $75.56 a barrel. Despite the pullback on the day, the price of crude oil jumped by 1.6 percent for the week.