Steady Start Seen For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 15 points or 0.9 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,740-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, with many markets shutting down this week for the Lunar New Year holiday. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and telecoms, while the plantations and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 11.31 point or 0.65 percent to finish at 1,739.54 after trading between 1,738.94 and 1,751.38. Among the actives, Axiata dropped 0.87 percent, while Celcomdigi fell 0.62 percent, CIMB Group shed 0.83 percent, Gamuda advanced 0.97 percent, Hong Leong Bank plummeted 2.35 percent, IHH Healthcare vaulted 1.15 percent, IOI Corporation skidded 1.00 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong perked 0.10 percent, Maxis rallied 2.09 percent, Maybank lost 0.66 percent, MISC slid 0.49 percent, MRDIY added 0.54 percent, Nestle Malaysia slumped 1.45 percent, Petronas Chemicals contracted 1.48 percent, Petronas Dagangan gained 0.49 percent, Petronas Gas stumbled 1.73 percent, Press Metal retreated 1.56 percent, Public Bank tanked 1.75 percent, QL Resources declined 1.49 percent, RHB Bank eased 0.24 percent, Sime Darby sank 0.85 percent, SD Guthrie rose 0.34 percent, Telekom Malaysia and YTL Corporation both tumbled 1.01 percent, Tenaga Nasional slipped 0.57 percent and YTL Power, 99 Speed Mart Retail, AMMB Holdings, PPB Group and Sunway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower but quickly inched higher before fading late to end mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 48.93 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 49,500.93, while the NASDAQ slipped 50.43 points or 0.22 percent to close at 22,546.67 and the S&P 500 perked 3.41 points or 005 percent to end at 6,836.17.

For the week, the NASDAQ tumbled 2.1 percent, the S&P dropped 1.4 percent and the Dow dropped 1.2 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in January. The report showed consumer prices rose slightly less than expected on a monthly basis, while the annual rate of growth slowed by more than anticipated.

The tamer-than-expected headline inflation data led to some renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates and a continued slump by treasury yields.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Friday, regaining some ground following the steep drop seen in the previous session after the IEA lowered its demand forecast. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.06 or 0.1 percent at $62.90 a barrel.