The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost a dozen points or 0.7 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,585-point plateau and it's expected to be rangebound again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests little movement ahead of the approaching Lunar New Year holiday. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financials and plantations were limited by weakness from the glove makers.
For the day, the index climbed 12.80 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 1,586.13 after trading between 1,574.23 and 1,588.96. Volume was 7.181 billion shares worth 4.708 billion ringgit. There were 585 gainers and 579 decliners.
Among the actives, Press Metal surged 4.98 percent, while MISC soared 3.55 percent, Genting Malaysia spiked 3.50 percent, Genting accelerated 3.29 percent, Telekom Malaysia jumped 3.08 percent, CIMB Group rallied 2.78 percent, Hartalega Holdings plummeted 2.68 percent, Supermax plunged 2.11 percent, Sime Darby tanked 1.75 percent, Maybank climbed 1.53 percent, Public Bank collected 1.47 percent, Axiata gathered 1.19 percent, Top Glove sank 1.12 percent, Petronas Chemicals perked 0.93 percent, Digi.com dropped 0.79 percent, IHH Healthcare advanced 0.79 percent, RHB Capital added 0.75 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.71 percent, Dialog Group and PPB Group both lost 0.32 percent, Tenaga Nasional rose 0.31 percent, Maxis increased 0.21 percent, Sime Darby Plantations was up 0.20 percent and Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Nestle were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as stocks shook off a weak open on Tuesday to finish mixed and little changed following recent strength.
The Dow slid 9.93 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 31,375.83, while the NASDAQ added 20.06 points or 0.14 percent to end at 14,007.70 and the S&P 500 eased 4.36 points or 0.11 percent to close at 3,911.23.
Profit taking contributed to some initial weakness on Wall Street, although selling pressure was relatively subdued as traders worry about missing out on further upside.
Optimism about more fiscal stimulus also helped support the markets along with the recent slowdown in coronavirus infection rates.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, extending gains to a seventh straight session amid easing worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.39 or 0.7 percent at $58.36 a barrel, hitting a fresh 13-month high.
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