Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 25 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,455-point plateau although it's expected to open under pressure on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from oil stocks likely offset by weakness from technology and retail companies. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, telecoms and plantation stocks.

For the day, the index advanced 16.62 points or 1.16 percent to finish at 1,454.74 after trading between 1,431.35 and 1,455.46. Volume was 2.289 billion shares worth 1.617 billion ringgit. There were 470 gainers and 411 decliners.

Among the actives, Axiata rallied 2.55 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 1.63 percent, Dialog Group added 0.94 percent, Digi.com improved 1.25 percent, Genting climbed 1.76 percent, Genting Malaysia strengthened 1.78 percent, Hartalega Holdings plunged 3.64 percent, INARI fell 0.37 percent, IOI Corporation accelerated 2.91 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 0.89 percent, Maybank rose 0.70 percent, Maxis jumped 2.49 percent, MISC gathered 1.27 percent, MRDIY soared 3.50 percent, Petronas Chemicals was up 0.54 percent, PPB Group skyrocketed 7.33 percent, Press Metal surged 3.62 percent, Public Bank collected 0.45 percent, RHB Capital rose 0.18 percent, Sime Darby added 0.47 percent, Sime Darby Plantations spiked 3.02 percent, Telekom Malaysia perked 0.58 percent, Tenaga Nasional shed 0.50 percent, Top Glove increased 0.96 percent and IHH Healthcare and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages shook off early gains and quickly turned lower, finishing the day near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 491.27 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 30,946.99, while the NASDAQ plunged 343.01 points or 2.98 percent to close at 11,181.54 and the S&P 500 slumped 78.56 points or 2.01 percent to end at 3,821.55.

The initial strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to news that China has cut quarantine times for international travelers in a big step toward easing Covid-19 controls.

But buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with lingering concerns about a potential recession continuing to weigh on the markets.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Conference Board showing U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to its lowest level in over a year in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, extending recent gains after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates indicated that they can barely increase oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.19 or 2 percent at $111.76 per barrel.