Malaysia Shares May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has tracked lower in four straight sessions, dropping more than 25 points or 1,7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,610-point plateau and it's expected to open to the downside again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KLCI finished barely lower on Tuesday as losses from the industrials and telecoms were offset by gains among the financials and plantations.

For the day, the index eased 0.83 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 1,608.43 after trading between 1,605.43 and 1,615.96.

Among the actives, Axiata tumbled 2.64 percent, while Celcomdigi dropped 0.91 percent, CIMB Group added 0.49 percent, Genting retreated 2.34 percent, Genting Malaysia tanked 3.21 percent, IHH Healthcare eased 0.14 percent, IOI Corporation surged 2.53 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 1.16 percent, Maxis declined 1.93 percent, Maybank rallied 1.35 percent, MRDIY climbed 0.94 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 4.13 percent, PPB Group gained 0.42 percent, Press Metal plunged 4.03 percent, Public Bank collected 0.68 percent, QL Resources advanced 0.83 percent, RHB Bank dipped 0.16 percent, Sime Darby stumbled 2.59 percent, SD Guthrie rose 0.39 percent, Sunway perked 0.22 percent, YTL Corporation sank 0.49 percent, YTL Power lost 0.31 percent and Telekom Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional, Petronas Dagangan, MISC and Nestle Malaysia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly headed south and stayed in the red, finishing with modest losses.

The Dow stumbled 382.15 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 43,910.98, while the NASDAQ slipped 17.36 points or 0.09 percent to close at 19,281.40 and the S&P 500 sank 17.36 points or 0.29 percent to end at 5,983.99.

The pullback on Wall Street reflected profit taking as some traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets following the U.S. elections.

Also, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation, due out later today.

Oil prices edged up only a bit on Tuesday after OPEC lowered its global oil demand forecast for 2025, while the dollar's continued strength hurt as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $0.08 at $68.12 a barrel.