Malaysia Shares May Head South Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one session after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 25 points or 1.7 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,630-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on persistent concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index added 7.09 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 1,629.18 after trading between 1,620.66 and 1,632.79.

Among the actives, Axiata shed 0.35 percent, while CIMB Group added 0.58 percent, Genting fell 0.21 percent, Genting Malaysia improved 0.73 percent, IHH Healthcare lost 0.32 percent, IOI Corporation rallied 1.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong strengthened 1.20 percent, Maxis slumped 1.05 percent, MISC spiked 1.68 percent, MRDIY climbed 1.09 percent, Petronas Chemicals tumbled 1.56 percent, PPB Group sank 0.67 percent, Press Metal perked 0.19 percent, Public Bank collected 0.24 percent, QL Resources increased 0.62 percent, RHB Capital gained 0.55 percent, Sime Darby soared 2.48 percent, Sime Darby Plantations and Petronas Dagangan both retreated 1.35 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 0.92 percent, Tenaga Nasional surged 2.50 percent, YTL Corporation jumped 1.57 percent and YTL Power, Celcomdigi and Maybank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but headed south as the day progressed to end firmly in the red.

The Dow plunged 605.78 points or 1.53 percent to finish at 39,065.26, while the NASDAQ sank 65.51 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,736.03 and the S&P 500 lost 39.17 points or 0.74 percent to end at 5,267.84.

Initial strength on Wall Street came as tech stocks rallied following upbeat quarterly results from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected fiscal first quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as concerns about the outlook for interest rates continue to hang over the broader markets following Wednesday's slightly hawkish Fed minutes.

Potentially adding to the rate concerns, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday for a fourth straight session amid concerns about the outlook for demand, and on data showing an unexpected jump in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $76.87 a barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will see April figures for consumer prices later today; in March, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent on month and 1.8 percent on year.