Malaysia Bourse May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping more than 10 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,750-point plateau although it figures to stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, riding solely on the strength of technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are likely to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantations, industrials and telecoms.

For the day, the index slipped 6.20 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 1,747.81 after trading between 1,744.46 and 1,755.36. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail tumbled 1.64 percent, while AMMB Holdings advanced 0.77 percent, Axiata spiked 2.20 percent, Celcomdigi lost 0.31 percent, CIMB Group and RHB Bank both collected 0.36 percent, Gamuda climbed 0.96 percent, IHH Healthcare slumped 0.88 percent, IOI Corporation increased 0.75 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 2.14 percent, Maxis contracted 1.01 percent, Maybank eased 0.16 percent, MISC declined 1.22 percent, MRDIY retreated 1.60 percent, Nestle Malaysia shed 0.45 percent, Petronas Chemicals soared 2.58 percent, Petronas Dagangan surged 2.62 percent, Petronas Gas dropped 0.65 percent, PPB Group fell 0.18 percent, Press Metal jumped 1.48 percent, Public Bank plunged 2.75 percent, QL Resources improved 0.76 percent, Sime Darby gained 0.42 percent, SD Guthrie sank 0.51 percent, Sunway rose 0.34 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.57 percent, Tenaga Nasional plummeted 4.79 percent, YTL Corporation rallied 1.03 percent and YTL Power was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending at session highs.

The Dow climbed 307.65 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 49,482.15, while the NASDAQ jumped 288.40 points or 1.26 percent to close at 23,152.08 and the S&P 500 gained 56.06 points or 0.81 percent to end at 6,946.13.

The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism ahead of the release of earnings news from AI chipmaker and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) after the close of Wednesday's trade. The company's earnings came in at $42.960 billion, or $1.76 per share compared to $22.091 billion, or $0.89 per share, last year.

Software stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index spiking by 3.1 percent. The index continued to regain ground after slumping to its lowest closing level in ten months on Monday amid easing AI disruption concerns.

The price of crude oil ticked lower on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported a substantial rebound by U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery slipped $0.15 or 0.2 percent to $65.48 a barrel.