Malaysia Bourse Likely To Crack Resistance At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,600-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key U.S. employment data later this week. The European and U.S. markets finished slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow suit. The KLCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and telecoms, while the plantation stocks were mixed. For the day, the index added 8.11 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 1,598.20 after trading between 1,587.03 and 1,598.36. Among the actives, Axiata spiked 1.92 percent, Celcomdigi gathered 0.27 percent, CIMB Group gained 0.44 percent, Genting declined 0.64 percent, IOI Corporation advanced 0.81 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong retreated 0.78 percent, Maxis strengthened 1.42 percent, Maybank perked 0.10 percent, MRDIY tumbled 2.58 percent, Petronas Chemicals slumped 0.63 percent, PPB Group climbed 0.84 percent, Public Bank collected 0.25 percent, QL Resources skidded 0.61 percent, RHB Capital sank 0.18 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.38 percent, SD Guthrie added 0.47 percent, Sunway soared 2.77 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.30 percent, Tenaga Nasional rallied 1.60 percent, YTL Corporation surged 4.93 percent, YTL Power jumped 1.66 percent and Genting Malaysia, IHH Healthcare, MISC and Press Metal were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the markets opened slightly higher on Monday and hugged the line for much of the day before moving firmly into the green by the close.

The Dow added 50.66 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 39,169.52, while the NASDAQ rallied 146.70 points or 0.83 percent to end at 17,879.30 and the S&P 500 gained 14.61 points or 0.27 percent to close at 5,475.09.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders look ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. The report, which is expected to show a slowdown in the pace of job growth in June, could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Traders may also be sticking to the sidelines ahead of remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday as well as the Independence Day holiday on Thursday.

On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted at a slightly faster rate in June. Also, the Commerce Department noted a slight decrease in U.S. construction spending in May.

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, on expectations of higher demand, supply concerns and production cuts by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended higher by $1.84 or about 2.2 percent at $83.38 a barrel.