(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Wednesday snapped the five-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 20 points or 1.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,595-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky and may be dictated by earnings news, although technology stocks figure to be under pressure regardless. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The KLCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials and plantations, while the glove makers and telecoms were mixed.
For the day, the index gained 12.61 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 1,593.75 after trading between 1,584.87 and 1,597.07. Volume was 3.111 billion shares worth 2.602 billion ringgit. There were 573 gainers and 386 decliners.
Among the actives, Axiata rallied 2.50 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 1.19 percent, Dialog Group soared 3.47 percent, Digi.com and Hong Leong Financial both improved 1.05 percent, Genting Malaysia was up 0.34 percent, Hartalega Holdings strengthened 1.75 percent, IHH Healthcare jumped 1.87 percent, INARI climbed 1.39 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.93 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong skyrocketed 4.16 percent, Maybank gained 0.57 percent, MISC accelerated 2.63 percent, MRDIY spiked 3.24 percent, Petronas Chemicals dropped 0.96 percent, PPB Group increased 0.59 percent, Press Metal perked 0.15 percent, Public Bank collected 0.43 percent, Sime Darby rose 0.41 percent, Sime Darby Plantations surged 3.69 percent, Telekom Malaysia plummeted 3.40 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.34 percent, Top Glove retreated 1.15 percent and Genting, Maxis and RHB Capital were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the Dow opened higher Monday and stayed that way, the NASDAQ opened lower and remained in negative territory and the S&P opened higher but fell late into the red.
The Dow jumped 249.59 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 35,160.79, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.59 points or 1.22 percent to close at 13,453.07 and the S&P eased 2.76 points or 0.06 percent to end at 4,459.45.
A steep drop by shares of Netflix (NFLX) weighed on the NASDAQ, with the streaming giant plummeting by 35.1 percent to its lowest closing level in four years after the company reported the loss of 200,000 subscribers in Q1. On the other hand, the continued advance by the Dow reflected strong gains by IBM Corp. (IBM) and Procter & Gamble (PG).
Late in the day, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, which said U.S. economic activity has expanded at a moderate pace since mid-February. Consumer spending has accelerated among retail and non-financial service firms, as Covid-19 cases tapered across the country.
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing existing home sales saw further downside in March.
Crude oil prices inched higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. Concerns about supplies from Russia and disruptions in Libya also pushed oil prices higher. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June rose $0.14 or 0.1 percent at $102.19 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
