Malaysia Bourse May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 40 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,730-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amidst profit taking and contrasting earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were mixed with a touch of weakness, and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The KLCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, industrials, plantations and telecoms.

For the day, the index tumbled 25.60 points or 1.46 percent to finish at 1,730.89 after trading between 1,719.52 and 1,753.31. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slid 0.74 percent, while AMMB Holdings tumbled 1.98 percent, Axiata crashed 3.45 percent, Celcomdigi skidded 1.21 percent, CIMB Group surrendered 2.08 percent, Gamuda dropped 1.09 percent, IHH Healthcare contracted 1.77 percent, IOI Corporation plummeted 2.92 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Sime Darby both shed 0.91 percent, Maxis fell 0.79 percent, Maybank slumped 1.36 percent, MISC lost 0.88 percent, MRDIY tanked 2.14 percent, Nestle Malaysia added 0.44 percent, Petronas Chemicals cratered 5.41 percent, Petronas Dagangan slipped 0.76 percent, Petronas Gas retreated 1.83 percent, PPB Group weakened 1.75 percent, Press Metal gave up 0.26 percent, Public Bank stumbled 2.02 percent, QL Resources eased 0.24 percent, RHB Bank plunged 2.64 percent, Sunway sank 1.04 percent, Telekom Malaysia was down 0.51 percent, Tenaga Nasional dipped 0.57 percent, YTL Corporation advanced 0.95 percent, YTL Power declined 1.80 percent and SD Guthrie was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and then mostly hugged the line before ending mixed.

The Dow rose 55.96 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 49,071.56, while the NASDAQ slumped 172.33 points or 0.72 percent to end at 23,685.12 and the S&P 500 dipped 9.02 points or 0.13 percent to close at 6,969.01.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came amid a steep drop by shares of Microsoft (MSFT) after the company reported slowing cloud computing growth in its fiscal second quarter and provided disappointing third quarter guidance.

Profit taking may also have contributed to the early weakness after the S&P 500 briefly peeked above the 7,000 level for the first time during Wednesday's session.

A strong performance by shares of Meta Platforms (META) may have limited the downside after the Facebook parent reported better than expected fourth quarter results and forecast first quarter revenues above estimates.

Crude oil prices spiked on Thursday as Iran shrugged off U.S. threats to negotiate or face attack, causing concerns over possible supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $2.23 or 3.53 percent at $65.44 per barrel.