Malaysia Bourse May Remain Rangebound On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up less than a point. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,610-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as the financial shares, telecoms and plantations ended mostly in the green.

For the day, the index rose 5.31 points or 0.33 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,608.00 after trading as low as 1,601.26. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail tumbled 1.85 percent, while AMMB Holdings improved 0.71 percent, Celcomdigi retreated 1.64 percent, CIMB Group jumped 1.81 percent, Gamuda slumped 1.17 percent, IHH Healthcare perked 0.12 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.51 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 0.87 percent, Maxis fell 0.26 percent, Maybank eased 0.20 percent, MISC soared 2.18 percent, MRDIY shed 0.58 percent, Nestle Malaysia lost 0.28 percent, Petronas Chemicals slipped 0.25 percent, Petronas Dagangan advanced 0.90 percent, Petronas Gas skidded 1.07 percent, PPB Group accelerated 1.83 percent, Press Metal climbed 1.14 percent, QL Resources stumbled 1.60 percent, RHB Bank rallied 1.35 percent, Sime Darby spiked 1.91 percent, SD Guthrie gained 0.38 percent, Sunway strengthened 1.26 percent, Telekom Malaysia surged 2.63 percent, Tenaga Nasional rose 0.31 percent, YTL Corporation declined 1.20 percent, YTL Power sank 0.78 percent and Axiata and Public Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher and trended generally to the upside throughout the session.

The Dow climbed 144.20 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 46,734.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 201.40 point or 0.89 percent to close at 22,941.80 and the S&P 500 added 39.04 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,738.44.

The slow start on Wall Street followed mixed corporate earnings news as companies like Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM) disappointed but Honeywell (HON) beat the street.

Crude oil surged on Thursday, extending gains from the past two sessions, as the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oil majors. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.22 or 5.50 percent at $61.72 per barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked 4.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index jumped 3.0 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Networking, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable strength, while transportation stocks moved to the downside.