Malaysia Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has ticked lower in consecutive trading days, easing almost 7 points or 0.5 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,470-point plateau although it's due for support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the plantations and glove makers, while the financials and telecoms were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 4.26 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 1,470.12 after trading between 1,469.47 and 1,477.29.

Among the actives, Axiata tumbled 2.34 percent, while CIMB Group rose 0.35 percent, Dialog Group declined1.71 percent, Digi.com added 0.53 percent, Genting improved 0.46 percent, Genting Malaysia climbed 0.77 percent, Hartalega Holdings plunged 3.09 percent, IOI Corporation retreated 1.58 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dipped 0.19 percent, Maybank collected 0.57 percent, Maxis sank 0.52 percent, MISC perked 0.28 percent, MRDIY gained 0.49 percent, PPB Group stumbled 1.46 percent, Press Metal slumped 1.44 percent, Public Bank fell 0.23 percent, RHB Capital advanced 0.71 percent, Sime Darby Plantations tanked 2.52 percent, Telekom Malaysia skidded 1.30 percent, Tenaga Nasional was up 0.11 percent, Top Glove plummeted 4.85 percent and Petronas Chemicals, Sime Darby, IHH Healthcare, INARI and Nestle were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Tuesday, faded as the day progressed but still finished in the green.

The Dow climbed 103.60 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 34,108.64, while the NASDAQ jumped 113.08 points or 1.01 percent to close at 11,256.81 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.73 percent to end at 4,019.65.

The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. inched up less than expected in November.

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant beats ahead of the Fed's rate decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rate by another 50 basis points, with traders likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday due to concerns about supply disruptions amid the ongoing shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak last week, while a weak dollar also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.22 or 3 percent at $75.39 a barrel.