Ahead of Monday's holiday for Federal Territory Day, the Malaysia stock market had turned lower again - one session after it had ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 20 points or 1.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,565-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday as it catches up on missed negative sentiment.
The global forecast for the Asian is broadly positive as they recover from heavy selling last week. The European and U.S. bourses were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, telecoms and plantations, while the glove makers offered support.
For the day, the index sank 14.22 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 1,566.40 after trading between 1,560.54 and 1,597.52. Volume was 6.535 billion shares worth 6.373 billion ringgit. There were 869 decliners and 367 gainers.
Among the actives, Top Glove surged 8.53 percent, while Hartalega Holdings soared 5.41 percent, MISC plummeted 5.25 percent, Digi.com plunged 4.05 percent, Public Bank tanked 3.90 percent, Supermax spiked 3.66 percent, IOI Corporation tumbled 2.99 percent, Dialog Group skidded 2.88 percent, Hap Seng rallied 2.76 percent, IHH Healthcare retreated 2.67 percent, CIMB Group declined 2.54 percent, Maxis surrendered 2.45 percent, Telekom Malaysia sank 2.31 percent, Sime Darby dropped 2.22 percent, Petronas Chemicals shed 2.04 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 1.33 percent, Press Metal fell 1.24 percent, Genting slid 1.00 percent, RHB Capital dipped 0.97 percent, Sime Darby Plantations slipped 0.82 percent, Maybank was down 0.76 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.61 percent, Genting Malaysia gained 0.41 percent and Axiata eased 0.30 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as stocks opened higher on Monday and stayed firmly in the green throughout the session, cutting into last week's heavy losses.
The Dow climbed 229.29 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 30,211.91, while the NASDAQ spiked 332.70 points or 2.55 percent to end at 13,403.39 and the S&P 500 gained 59.62 points or 1.61 percent to close at 3,773.86.
The rebound on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels after the markets saw their biggest weekly decline since October.
Traders continued to keep an eye on heavily-shorted stocks like GameStop (GME) and AMC Entertainment, which have seen considerable volatility amid speculative trading by retail investors. Share of GameStop plunged by 30.8 percent on the day, while shares of AMC edged up by 0.3 percent after seeing early strength.
In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity slowed more than expected in January. Also, the Commerce Department said U.S. construction spending increased by slightly more than expected in December.
Crude oil futures ended sharply higher Monday on optimism about improved vaccination rollout and OPEC production cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $1.35 or 2.6 percent at $53.55 a barrel.
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