(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, advancing almost 50 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,540-point plateau although investors nay cash in on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with support expected from oil companies and weakness likely from tech shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financials, plantations and glove makers were capped by weakness from the telecoms.
For the day, the index picked up 5.98 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 1539.89 after trading between 1,535.86 and 1,542.20. Volume was 2.156 billion shares worth 1.653 billion ringgit. There were 592 gainers and 303 decliners.
Among the actives, Axiata tumbled 1.07 percent, while CIMB Group advanced 0.56 percent, Dialog Group accelerated 1.58 percent, Digi.com increased 0.25 percent, Genting gathered 0.85 percent, Genting Malaysia soared 1.74 percent, Hartalega Holdings climbed 0.89 percent, Hong Leong Bank slid 0.32 percent, IHH Healthcare jumped 1.50 percent, INARI surged 1.80 percent, IOI Corporation spiked 1.60 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 0.11 percent, Maxis retreated 0.90 percent, MISC dipped 0.28 percent, MRDIY lost 0.56 percent, Petronas Chemicals rose 0.34 percent, PPB Group perked 0.60 percent, Press Metal rallied 1.24 percent, Public Bank collected 0.72 percent, RHB Capital eased 0.19 percent, Sime Darby sank 0.88 percent, Sime Darby Plantations added 0.53 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.37 percent, Tenaga Nasional dropped 0.64 percent, Top Glove gained 0.42 percent and Maybank was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the Dow opened higher on Thursday and stayed that way, the S&P 500 opened higher but gradually fell into the red and the NASDAQ simply spent most of the day in negative territory.
The Dow gained 95.83 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 36,398.21, while the NASDAQ sank 89.54 points or 0.56 percent to close at 15,781.72 and the S&P 500 eased 4.84 points or 0.10 percent to end at 4,786.35.
The lackluster performance came as traders were reluctant to continue making significant moves following the recent strength in the markets. But they largely refrained from cashing in on recent gains amid easing concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Helping offset worries about the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shortened the recommended isolation time to for asymptomatic people with Covid-19 to 5 days from 10 days.
Crude oil futures rose Tuesday, extending gains to a fifth straight session on hopes the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is unlikely to impact global economic recovery. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February added $0.41 or 0.5 percent at $75.98 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.
