Continued Consolidation Called For Malaysia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost 5 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,620-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian bourse is negative, with technology and oil shares likely to lead the markets lower. The European and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks, industrials and telecoms.

For the day, the index dipped 2.61 points or 0.16 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,618.94 after peaking at 1,624.29. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail improved 0.98 percent, while AMMB Holdings shed 0.69 percent, Axiata was up 0.39 percent, Celcomdigi perked 0.27 percent, Gamuda advanced 1.18 percent, IHH Healthcare sank 0.72 percent, IOI Corporation slumped 0.74 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 1.42 percent, Maxis gathered 0.51 percent, MISC rallied 1.83 percent, MRDIY rose 0.63 percent, Nestle Malaysia plunged 2.76 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 5.07 percent, Petronas Dagangan declined 1.14 percent, Petronas Gas tumbled 1.28 percent, PPB Group dipped 0.17 percent, Press Metal increased 0.96 percent, Public Bank tanked 1.84 percent, QL Resources retreated 1.20 percent, RHB Bank dropped 0.73 percent, Sime Darby jumped 1.97 percent, SD Guthrie strengthened 1.33 percent, Sunway spiked 2.04 percent, Telekom Malaysia climbed 1.25 percent, YTL Corporation added 0.79 percent, YTL Power gained 0.77 percent and CIMB Group, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened in the red on Thursday and spent the entire session under water, finishing near daily lows.

The Dow stumbled 398.70 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 46,912.30, while the NASDAQ plunged 445.80 points or 1.90 percent to close at 23,053.99 and the S&P 500 sank 75.97 points or 1.12 percent to end at 6,720.32.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came on renewed weakness among artificial intelligence-related stocks, which led the sell-off on Tuesday. Concerns about an AI bubble and the possibility of a near-term correction have recently weighed on investors' minds.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showing a sharp increase in layoff announcements in the month of October.

Crude oil prices fell Thursday on oversupply concerns after the American Petroleum Institute revealed that U.S. crude oil inventories increased much more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.21 or 0.35 percent at $59.39 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide September numbers for industrial production later today; in August, output was up 4.9 percent on year.