Malaysia Shares Likely To Remain Rangebound On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 35 points or 2.1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,620-point plateau and it figures to remain in that neighborhood again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amidst a lack of catalysts, although oil and technology stocks may provide support. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourse were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and industrials and mixed performances from the plantations and telecoms.

For the day, the index dipped 1.77 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 1,621.07 after trading between 1,616.49 and 1,625.99. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rallied 1.15 percent, while AMMB Holdings rose 0.49 percent, Axiata surged 4.69 percent, Celcomdigi dropped 0.90 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.38 percent, Gamuda advanced 0.78 percent, IHH Healthcare gathered 0.48 percent, IOI Corporation slid 0.24 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 1.05 percent, Maxis jumped 1.85 percent, Maybank eased 0.19 percent, MISC was up 0.27 percent, MRDIY tumbled 1.31 percent, Nestle Malaysia sank 0.77 percent, Petronas Chemicals skidded 0.91 percent, Petronas Dagangan shed 0.60 percent, Petronas Gas declined 1.03 percent, PPB Group spiked 2.81 percent, Press Metal improved 0.75 percent, Public Bank retreated 1.13 percent, QL Resources slumped 0.98 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.28 percent, Sime Darby gained 0.52 percent, Sunway added 0.55 percent, Telekom Malaysia soared 3.54 percent, Tenaga Nasional stumbled 2.65 percent, YTL Corporation lost 0.47 percent, YTL Power perked 0.31 percent and SD Guthrie was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but spent the day bouncing back and forth across the changed line, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 31.96 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 47,850.94, while the NASDAQ added 51.04 points or 0.22 percent to close at 23,505.14 and the S&P 500 rose 7.40 points or 0.11 percent to end at 6,857.12.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess the near-term outlook for the markets following the volatility earlier in the week.

Traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a three-year low last week.

While the data partly offset recent optimism about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next week, the central bank is still widely expected to lower rates by another quarter point.

Crude oil prices advanced on Thursday as expectations of an end to the Russia-Ukraine war dimmed. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.70 or 1.19 percent at $59.65 per barrel.