The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 20 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,575-point plateau and it may be stuck in neutral again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is mixed and little changed thanks to conflicting earnings data and a mild drop in crude oil prices. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished slightly lower, dragged into the red by profit taking among the glove makers while the financials and properties were mixed.
For the day, the index eased 1.31 points or 0.08 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,575.31 after peaking at 1,609.19. Volume was 5.930 billion shares worth 4.735 billion ringgit. There were 601 gainers and 537 decliners.
Among the actives, Supermax plummeted 5.00 percent, while Top Glove plunged 4.91 percent, Hartalega Holdings tanked 4.31 percent, Telekom Malaysia surged 4.20 percent, Dialog Group soared 3.63 percent, Axiata tumbled 3.56 percent, Genting spiked 3.36 percent, Public Bank accelerated 3.29 percent, Petronas Chemicals skidded 2.17 percent, Hong Leong Bank rallied 1.28 percent, MISC retreated 0.96 percent, RHB Capital jumped 0.96 percent, Genting Malaysia climbed 0.85 percent, CIMB Group gathered 0.78 percent, Maybank declined 0.76 percent, Tenaga Nasional advanced 0.52 percent, Digi.com sank 0.50 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.46 percent, Sime Darby Plantations shed 0.40 percent, Press Metal lost 0.36 percent, Maxis rose 0.21 percent, IHH Healthcare was up 0.20 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.09 percent and PPB Group, Nestle and Sime Darby were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation as stocks showed a lack of direction on Tuesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending slightly in the red.
The Dow fell 22.96 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 30,937.04, while the NASDAQ eased 9.93 points or 0.07 percent to end at 13,626.06 and the S&P 500 shed 5.74 points or 0.15 percent to close at 3,849.62.
The choppy trading on Wall Street partly reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets after the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 climbed to new record closing highs on Monday.
Optimism about additional stimulus under President Joe Biden has helped drive stocks higher in recent sessions, although reports have pointed to intensifying opposition from GOP lawmakers.
The lackluster performance also reflected a mixed reaction to earnings news from a number of big-name companies as 3M (MMM) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) moved higher beating the street - while fellow Dow components American Express (AXP) and Verizon (VZ) moved to the downside.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday, as traders were leery of the uncertain outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended lower by $0.16 or 0.3 percent at $52.61 a barrel.
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