(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in seven straight sessions, slipping almost 45 points or 2.5 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,710-point plateau although it may find traction on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the plantations and telecoms, while the financials and industrials were mixed.
For the day, the index shed 9.33 points or 0.54 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,708.36 after peaking at 1,722.50. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail shed 0.30 percent, while AMMB Holdings sank 0.62 percent, Axiata cratered 1.99 percent, Celcomdigi and PPB Group both contracted 0.97 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.13 percent, Gamuda tumbled 1.36 percent, Hong Leong Bank rallied 2.12 percent, IHH Healthcare and Press Metal both slumped 0.78 percent, IOI Corporation surrendered 1.46 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong tanked 2.13 percent, Maxis added 0.28 percent, Maybank lost 0.18 percent, MISC rose 0.12 percent, MRDIY plummeted 5.29 percent, Nestle Malaysia climbed 1.05 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 4.39 percent, Petronas Dagangan eased 0.11 percent, Petronas Gas crashed 1.63 percent, RHB Bank dropped 0.72 percent, SD Guthrie retreated 1.17 percent, Sunway skidded 0.74 percent, Sunway Healthcare declined 1.09 percent, Telekom Malaysia stumbled 1.21 percent, YTL Corporation jumped 1.43 percent and YTL Power, Sime Darby, Tenaga Nasional and Public Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages spent the first half of Thursday in the red before bouncing firmly into positive territory, ending near daily highs.
The Dow climbed 276.31 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 50,285.66, while the NASDAQ added 22.74 points or 0.09 percent to end at 26,293.10 and the S&P 500 rose 12.75 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,445.72.
The initial pullback on Wall Street came amid a substantial rebound by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures surging as much as 4.5 percent after plummeting by 5.7 percent on Wednesday.
Unable to hold those early gains, crude oil prices turned lower over the course of trading on Thursday as investors watched developments in the U.S.-Iran peace talks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $1.41 or 1.43 percent at $96.85 per barrel.
Meanwhile, traders seemed to shrug off the negative reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), although the AI leader still slumped by 1.8 percent.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
