Malaysia Shares May Tick Lower Again On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three consecutive trading days, sinking almost 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,610-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is tempered by concerns over the growing economic conflict between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are likely to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index slipped 3.73 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 1,611.46 after trading between 1,610.05 and 1,622.75. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail surged 2.71 percent, while AMMB Holdings rose 0.17 percent, Axiata accelerated 1.95 percent, Celcomdigi jumped 0.83 percent, CIMB Group declined 1.08 percent, Gamuda tumbled 1.31 percent, IHH Healthcare advanced 0.75 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 0.19 percent, Maxis rallied 0.81 percent, Maybank fell 0.10 percent, MRDIY spiked 2.40 percent, Nestle Malaysia soared 2.51 percent, Petronas Chemicals slumped 0.73 percent, Petronas Dagangan retreated 1.30 percent, Petronas Gas plummeted 2.01 percent, PPB Group added 0.55 percent, Press Metal climbed 0.80 percent, Public Bank shed 0.24 percent, QL Resources improved 0.69 percent, RHB Bank collected 0.45 percent, SD Guthrie and YTL Corporation both stumbled 1.51 percent, Sunway plunged 1.73 percent, Telekom Malaysia perked 0.14 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.45 percent, YTL Power dropped 0.49 percent and MISC and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday but ticked steadily higher before finally finishing mixed.

The Dow climbed 202.88 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 46.270.46, while the NASDAQ slumped 172.91 points or 0.76 percent to close at 22,521.70 and the S&P 500 dipped 10.41 points or 0.16 percent to end at 6,644.31.

The late-day pullback on Wall Street came as a post by President Donald Trump reinforced earlier concerns about trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

Trump accused China of an "economically hostile act" by purposefully not buying U.S. soybeans and threatened to terminate business with China having to do with cooking oil and other elements of trade as retribution.

The selling pressure was partly offset by upbeat earnings news from big-name financial companies, including Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

Crude oil prices pulled back sharply on Tuesday as renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and China have heightened, while forecasts predicting low demand in the months ahead also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.70 or 1.18 percent at $58.79 per barrel.