The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Composite Index now rests just above the 1,610-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with rising bond yields offset by rising crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The KLCI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials were limited by weakness from the glove makers and a mixed picture from the telecoms and plantations.
For the day, the index gained 9.86 points or 0.62 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,611.28 after trading as low as 1,597.83. Volume was 6.707 billion shares worth 3.577 billion ringgit. There were 654 decliners and 431 gainers.
Among the actives, Axiata skyrocketed 4.62 percent, while Dialog Group soared 1.62 percent, Digi.com fell 0.26 percent, Genting tanked 1.34 percent, Genting Malaysia dropped 0.95 percent, Hartalega Holdings plunged 1.57 percent, IHH Healthcare tumbled 1.29 percent, IOI Corporation gained 0.71 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.17 percent, Maybank spiked 1.58 percent, Maxis accelerated 1.53 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 2.53 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.86 percent, Press Metal perked 1.21 percent, Public Bank collected 0.95 percent, Sime Darby added 0.83 percent, Sime Darby Plantations skidded 1.04 percent, Supermax sank 0.96 percent, Telekom Malaysia was up 0.16 percent, Tenaga Nasional rallied 1.11 percent, Top Glove plummeted 1.94 percent and CIMB Group, MISC and RHB Capital were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, with only the Dow peeking into positive territory at the close.
The Dow added 98.49 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 33,171.37, while the NASDAQ sank 79.08 points or 0.60 percent to end at 13,059.65 and the S&P 500 eased 3.45 points or 0.09 percent to close at 3,971.09.
The soft start on Monday came amid profit taking after the Dow and the S&P 500 ended the previous session at new record closing highs.
Adding to the pessimism, the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note rose to over 1.70 percent, again fueling inflation concerns.
Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued ahead of the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday amid concerns about possible supply disruptions - but news about freeing the container ship that had blocked the Suez canal helped limit oil's upside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.59 or 1 percent at $61.56 a barrel.
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