Malaysia Stock Market May Extend Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market turned lower again on Friday, one day after halting the two-day slide in which it had dropped nearly a dozen points or 0.8 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index new rests just above the 1,500-point plateau and it may take further damage on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, with weakness expected from the technology and oil sectors. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financials, plantations and glove makers.

For the day, the index shed 6.16 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 1,501.55 after trading between 1,497.77 and 1,505.53. Volume was 2.61 billion shares worth 1.62 billion ringgit. There were 399 decliners and 376 gainers, with 452 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Axiata and Genting Malaysia both gained 0.34 percent, while Dialog Group tanked 2.62 percent, Digi.com dipped 0.27 percent, Genting tumbled 1.04 percent, Hartalega Holdings skidded 0.71 percent, IHH Healthcare shed 0.46 percent, INARI fell 0.34 percent, IOI Corporation slipped 0.24 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 1.35 percent, Maybank eased 0.11 percent, Maxis sank 0.53 percent, MISC slid 0.28 percent, MRDIY plummeted 3.45 percent, Petronas Chemicals dropped 0.68 percent, Press Metal plunged 2.83 percent, Public Bank lost 0.43 percent, Sime Darby slumped 0.84 percent, Sime Darby Plantations climbed 0.90 percent, Telekom Malaysia retreated 0.90 percent and Tenaga Nasional, Top Glove, PPB Group, RHB Capital, CIMB Group and Nestle were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to lower as the major averages opened deep in the red on Friday and recovered somewhat, although only the Dow peeked up into positive territory.

The Dow added 76.67 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 32,803.47, while the NASDAQ sank 63.04 points or 0.50 percent to end at 12,657.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.75 points or 0.16 percent to close at 4,145.19.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, the S&P rose 0.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.1 percent.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders reacted to the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report - which showed employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in July, leading to concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

While the data paints a positive picture of the labor market, the report may also give the Federal Reserve confidence they can continue aggressively raising interest rates without causing a recession.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, lifted by the strong jobs report, but still posted a weekly loss amid concerns about demand due to economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.47 or 0.5 percent at $89.01 a barrel.