Malaysia Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market turned lower again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the two-day slide in which it had eased not quite 3 points. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,455-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast is mixed to higher as markets are expected to recover from selling pressure earlier this week. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the plantations and mixed performances from the financials and telecoms.

For the day, the index eased 4.01 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 1,454.66 after trading between 1,451.08 and 1,458.63.

Among the actives, Axiata tanked 1.26 percent, while CIMB Group collected 0.36 percent, Dialog Group dropped 0.83 percent, Digi.com rose 0.24 percent, Genting skidded 0.85 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.67 percent, INARI climbed 1.22 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 0.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong plunged 2.78 percent, Maybank and Petronas Gas both eased 0.12 percent, Maxis advanced 1.00 percent, MRDIY shed 0.59 percent, Petronas Chemicals slid 0.28 percent, PPB Group plummeted 3.66 percent, Press Metal dipped 0.19 percent, Public Bank lost 0.48 percent, RHB Capital sank 0.70 percent, Sime Darby fell 0.45 percent, Sime Darby Plantations tumbled 0.89 percent, Telekom Malaysia jumped 1.41 percent, Tenaga Nasional gained 0.53 percent and Genting Malaysia, MISC and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as spent most of Wednesday bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, finally finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow lost 58.06 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 32,798.40, while the NASDAQ gained 45.67 points or 0.40 percent to close at 11,576.00 and the S&P 500 perked 5.64 points or 0.14 percent to end at 3,992.01.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following Tuesday's sell-off, which reflected renewed concerns about the outlook for interest following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased more than expected in February. Also, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. fell to 10.8 million in January from 11.2 million in December.

Crude oil prices slipped on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns about outlook for energy demand following Powell's remarks to Congress. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.92 or 1.2 percent at $76.66 a barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Malaysia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 2.75 percent. Malaysia will also release unemployment data for January; in December, the jobless rate was 3.6 percent.