Malaysia Bourse May Extend Wednesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday snapped the five-day winning streak in which it had soared almost 80 points or 4.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,755-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid geopolitical concerns, although support from gold and oil figure to limit the downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses among the industrials, telecoms and financials, while the plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 14.76 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 1,756.49 after trading between 1,750.05 and 1,769.90. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rallied 1.26 percent, while AMMB Holdings declined 1.65 percent, Axiata sank 1.28 percent, CIMB Group plummeted 3.35 percent, Gamuda tanked 2.34 percent, IHH Healthcare surged 3.56 percent, IOI Corporation advanced 0.98 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 1.31 percent, Maxis plunged 3.29 percent, Maybank collected 0.34 percent, MISC contracted 1.60 percent, MRDIY slumped 1.58 percent, Nestle Malaysia tumbled 1.82 percent, Petronas Chemicals retreated 1.77 percent, Petronas Dagangan lost 1.04 percent, Petronas Gas dipped 0.43 percent, PPB Group perked 0.18 percent, Press Metal and SD Guthrie both slid 0.51 percent, Public Bank fell 1.00 percent, QL Resources surrendered 2.14 percent, RHB Bank shed 1.07 percent, Sime Darby dropped 1.35 percent, Sunway skidded 1.37 percent, Telekom Malaysia slipped 0.75 percent, Tenaga Nasional eased 0.28 percent, YTL Corporation stumbled 2.33 percent, YTL Power was down 0.30 percent and Celcomdigi was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is of little help as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but tailed off and hugged the line, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 12.19 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 49,015.60, while the NASDAQ added 40.35 points or 0.17 percent to close at 23,857.45 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.57 points or 0.01 percent to end at 6,978.03.

The choppy trading on Wall Street continued after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

The Fed said the decision to keep rates steady came amid elevated uncertainty about the economic outlook. The central bank also said it remains attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the long run.

Despite the choppy trading by the broader markets, gold stocks moved sharply higher amid a continued surge by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.7 percent to a new record closing high.

Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday as Iran rejected any nuclear talks under threat even as a massive U.S. armada nears the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.85 or 1.36 percent at $63.24 per barrel.