The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one session after it had ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 40 points or 2.5 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,590-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian is fraught with uncertainty after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Markets were mostly higher before this attack but now are likely to open lower.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials and health care stocks.
For the day, the index dropped 16.38 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 1,591.97 after trading between 1,586.25 and 1,610.78. Volume was 7.733 billion shares worth 4.404 billion ringgit. There were 965 decliners and 287 gainers.
Among the actives, Axiata plummeted 3.85 percent, while CIMB Group plunged 3.26 percent, Genting tanked 3.11 percent, IHH Healthcare tumbled 1.77 percent, Maxis skidded 1.75 percent, Hong Leong Bank retreated 1.44 percent, Digi.com declined 1.43 percent, MISC spiked 1.37 percent, Public Bank surrendered 1.36 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 1.14 percent, Genting Malaysia dropped 1.13 percent, Sime Darby Plantations shed 0.99 percent, Dialog Group lost 0.90 percent, Sime Darby fell 0.85 percent, Maybank slid 0.84 percent, Top Glove added 0.70 percent, Press Metal dipped 0.61 percent, Supermax gained 0.51 percent, IOI Corporation rose 0.22 percent, Telekom Malaysia perked 0.18 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 0.17 percent and Petronas Chemicals, Hartalega Holdings and RHB Capital were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is unsettled, to put it kindly. The major averages were higher for much of the day but turned lower in the wake of the chaos in Washington to end mixed.
The Dow soared 437.80 points or 1.44 percent to finish at 30,829.40, while the NASDAQ sank 78.17 points or 0.61 percent to end at 12,740.79 and the S&P perked 21.28 points or 0.57 percent to close at 3,748.28.
Stocks moved to the downside going into the close of trading as supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. capitol building as lawmakers began the process of certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
Support earlier in the day came as traders reacted to the results of the highly anticipated Georgia runoff elections on Tuesday. Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock both won, giving control of the senate to the Democrats.
Democratic control of the House, Senate and White House is seen as a positive for cyclical stocks due to the likelihood of additional fiscal stimulus. But the NASDAQ closed lower as tech stocks could be hurt by the shift into cyclical stocks and higher taxes.
Traders largely shrugged off a report from payroll processor ADP showing an unexpected drop in private sector employment in the U.S. last month.
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