Rebound Anticipated For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 20 points or 1.1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,755-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with technology shares likely to lead the markets higher. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the telecoms, industrials and plantations were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 3.97 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 1,754.01 after trading between 1,746.91 and 1,756.00. Among the actives, AMMB Holdings added 0.46 percent, while Axiata slumped 1.30 percent, Celcomdigi was down 0.31 percent, CIMB Group lost 0.71 percent, Gamuda declined 1.43 percent, IHH Healthcare advanced 0.89 percent, IOI Corporation stumbled 1.96 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong surrendered 2.00 percent, Maxis rose 0.25 percent, Maybank strengthened 1.48 percent, MISC shed 0.73 percent, MRDIY sank 1.06 percent, Nestle Malaysia skidded 1.25 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 5.78 percent, Petronas Dagangan rallied 2.00 percent, PPB Group tumbled 1.61 percent, Press Metal retreated 1.59 percent, Public Bank collected 0.20 percent, QL Resources improved 0.76 percent, RHB Bank jumped 1.60 percent, Sime Darby climbed 1.27 percent, SD Guthrie fell 0.51 percent, Sunway gained 0.34 percent, Telekom Malaysia dropped 1.09 percent, Tenaga Nasional eased 0.28 percent, YTL Corporation plunged 4.90 percent, YTL Power tanked 3.00 percent and 99 Speed Mart Retail and Petronas Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the markets opened flat on Tuesday but quickly trended upward and spent the balance of the day in positive territory, ending near session highs.

The Dow soared 370.44 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 49,174.50, while the NASDAQ rallied 236.41 points or 1.04 percent to end at 22,863.68 and the S&P 500 gained 52.32 points or 0.77 percent to close at 6,890.07.

The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting, as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the steep drop on Monday when the Dow fell to a one-month low.

Semiconductor stocks lead the move back to the upside, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 1.5 percent to a new record closing high. Significant strength was also visible among networking, gold, airline and software stocks.

In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board showed an unexpected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in February as its consumer confidence index rose to 91.2 from an upwardly revised 89.0 in January.

Crude oil prices fell slumped Tuesday as traders continue to evaluate the potential turbulence in the trade tariff environment following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on reciprocal tariffs. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery sank $0.71 or 1.1 percent to $66.31 a barrel.