(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 35 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,425-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing recession fears. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower on Friday and now the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the plantations, industrials and telecoms, while the financials were mixed and the glove makers offered support.
For the day, the index sank 14.18 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 1,424.98 after trading between 1,424.98 and 1,440.29. Volume was 1.844 billion shares worth 1.574 billion ringgit. There were 540 decliners and 278 gainers.
Among the actives, Axiata plunged 2.55 percent, while CIMB Group rose 0.19 percent, Dialog Group weakened 1.38 percent, Digi.com slumped 1.46 percent, Genting dropped 1.35 percent, Genting Malaysia stumbled 1.75 percent, Hartalega Holdings spiked 2.00 percent, IHH Healthcare plummeted 3.33 percent, INARI lost 1.11 percent, IOI Corporation surrendered 2.06 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong retreated 1.55 percent, Maybank was down 0.23 percent, Maxis tumbled 2.17 percent, MISC sank 1.28 percent, MRDIY tanked 2.46 percent, Petronas Chemicals declined 1.76 percent, PPB Group fell 1.01 percent, Press Metal dipped 0.25 percent, Public Bank and Sime Darby Plantations both shed 1.14 percent, RHB Capital added 0.53 percent, Sime Darby skidded 1.37 percent, Telekom Malaysia eased 0.18 percent, Tenaga Nasional slid 0.91 percent and Top Glove soared 3.17 percent.
The lead from Wall Street continues to be negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday and stayed that way throughout the session.
The Dow plunged 486.29 points or 1.62 percent to finish at 29,590.41, while the NASDAQ tumbled 198.87 points or 1.80 percent to close at 10.867.93 and the S&P 500 sank 64.76 points or 1.72 percent to end at 3,693.23. For the week, the Dow dropped 4.0 percent, the NASDAQ plunged 5.1 percent and the S&P fell 4.7 percent.
Concerns about the outlook for the global economy continued to weigh on Wall Street after aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks around the world. Traders remain concerned the central banks' efforts to combat elevated inflation will push the global economy into a recession.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by another 75 basis points earlier this week and signaled more significant rate hikes later this year.
While the Fed's projections pointed to an eventually tapering of rate hikes by next year, traders worry about the outlook for the global economy in the months ahead.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday, pushing the most active crude futures contract to their lowest close in about seven months. Weak outlook for energy demand due to a possible global recession outweighed concerns about tight supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $4.75 or 5.7 percent at $78.74 a barrel, the lowest settlement since January.
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