Malaysia Bourse May Give Up Support At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, gathering almost 30 points or 2 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,605-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, matching the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index added 8.29 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 1,605.68 after trading between 1,600.66 and 1,610.32.

Among the actives, Axiata soared 2.11 percent, while Celcomdigi fell 0.24 percent, CIMB Group strengthened 0.89 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.16 percent, IOI Corporation spiked1.24 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 0.09 percent, Maxis rose 0.28 percent, Maybank perked 0.10 percent, MISC climbed 0.49 percent, MRDIY surged 4.12 percent, Petronas Chemicals advanced 0.44 percent, PPB Group improved 0.38 percent, Press Metal jumped 0.94 percent, Public Bank collected 0.24 percent, QL Resources dipped 0.15 percent, RHB Capital increased 0.36 percent, Sime Darby added 0.35 percent, Sime Darby Plantations accelerated 1.13 percent, Tenaga Nasional rallied 0.81 percent, YTL Corporation gained 0.30 percent, YTL Power sank 0.61 percent and Genting, Genting Malaysia and Telekom Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but faded to finish mixed and barely changed.

The Dow added 31.99 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 38,884.26, while the NASDAQ slipped 16.69 points or 0.10 percent to close at 16,332.56 and the S&P 500 rose 6.96 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,187.70.

The modest strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Relatively dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell combined with weaker-than-expected job growth in April have largely eliminated short-lived concerns the Fed might actually consider raising rates.

However, buying interest waned in afternoon trading after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari suggested interest rates may need to remain at current levels for an "extended period."

Oil futures settled slightly lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.10 at $78.38 a barrel.