Malaysia Shares May Bounce Higher Again On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 3 points or 0.2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,590-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are predicted to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index sank 8.68 points or 0.54 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,591.41 after peaking at 1,606.28.

Among the actives, Axiata plunged 2.90 percent, while Celcomdigi tanked 1.94 percent, CIMB Group slumped 1.12 percent, Genting Malaysia gained 0.47 percent, IHH Healthcare declined 1.40 percent, IOI Corporation shed 1.05 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.37 percent, Maxis improved 0.56 percent, Maybank skidded 0.99 percent, MISC fell 0.14 percent, MRDIY added 0.55 percent, Petronas Chemicals lost 1.06 percent, Petronas Dagangan plummeted 4.23 percent, PPB Group rallied 2.19 percent, Press Metal stumbled 1.67 percent, Public Bank sank 0.67 percent, QL Resources advanced 1.06 percent, RHB Bank retreated 1.56 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.87 percent, SD Guthrie tumbled 1.83 percent, Sunway jumped 1.73 percent, Telekom Malaysia improved 1.36 percent, YTL Corporation climbed 1.18 percent, YTL Power strengthened 1.47 percent and Genting, Nestle Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Friday but quickly bounced up into the green and stayed that way for the balance of the session.

The Dow rallied 498.06 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 42,840.26, while the NASDAQ jumped 199.80 points or 1.03 percent to close at 19,572.60 and the S&P 500 gained 63.77 points or 1.09 percent to end at 5,930.85.

For the week, the Dow plunged 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent and the NASDAQ slumped 1.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the Commerce Department's report on personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which came in slower than expected.

As that is the Federal Reserve's preferred reading on consumer price inflation, the slower than expected growth inspired traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the mid-week sell-off.

Oil futures settled higher on Friday as the dollar came off two-year highs after soft PCE readings eased concerns about the outlook for interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures perked $0.08 or about 0.1 percent to $69.46 a barrel. Oil futures shed 2.5 percent in the week.