Additional Support Predicted For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday ended the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,730-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting among the technology companies likely to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, telecoms, plantations and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 1.81 points or 0.10 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,732.83 after trading as low as 1,723.91.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail and RHB Bank both fell 0.25 percent, while AMMB Holdings gained 0.46 percent, Axiata surged 2.14 percent, Celcomdigi skidded 0.94 percent, CIMB Group dropped 0.70 percent, Gamuda spiked 1.74 percent, IHH Healthcare was up 0.34 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slumped 1.11 percent, Maxis sank 0.52 percent, MISC stumbled 1.48 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.13 percent, Nestle Malaysia and Press Metal both lost 0.27 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 3.07 percent, Petronas Dagangan vaulted 0.99 percent, Petronas Gas advanced 0.55 percent, PPB Group rose 0.36 percent, Public Bank rallied 1.43 percent, QL Resources and Hong Leong Bank both slid 0.24 percent, Sime Darby soared 1.89 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.51 percent, Tenaga Nasional shed 0.29 percent, YTL Power perked 0.33 percent and SD Guthrie, Sunway, YTL Corporation, IOI Corporation and Maybank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened firmly higher on Friday and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 1,206.97 points or 2.47 percent to finish at a record 50,115.67, while the NASDAQ soared 490.61 points or 2.18 percent to close at 23,031.21 and the S&P 500 jumped 133.90 points or 1.97 percent to end at 6,932.30.

For the week, the Dow rallied 2.5 percent, while the S&P dipped 0.1 percent and the NASDAQ fell 1.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent weakness, especially among the technology shares that had dragged the NASDAQ to its lowest close in two months.

Airline stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, as did computer hardware and semiconductor stocks. A sharp increase by the price of gold also provided significant strength to the markets.

Crude oil moved higher on Friday after the U.S. issued an advisory telling its citizens to depart from Iran, further stoking concerns of war. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.20 or 0.32 percent at $63.49 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide December numbers for industrial production later today; in November, output was up 4.3 percent on year.