The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 25 points or 1.6 percent. The Kuala Composite Index now rests just above the 1,605-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement later today. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and largely flat and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, plantations, glove makers and industrials.
For the day, the index skidded 16.79 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 1,606.68 after trading between 1,603.82 and 1,623.25. Volume was 7.174 billion shares worth 5.069 billion ringgit. There were 688 decliners and 417 gainers.
Among the actives, Axiata jumped 1.04 percent, while CIMB Group lost 0.96 percent, Dialog Group declined 1.28 percent, Digi.com plunged 3.22 percent, Genting surrendered 1.21 percent, Hartalega Holdings plummeted 4.29 percent, IHH Healthcare fell 0.93 percent, IOI Corporation dipped 0.49 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.09 percent, Maybank sank 1.20 percent, Maxis skidded 2.09 percent, MISC shed 1.02 percent, Petronas Chemicals slid 0.76 percent, Press Metal dropped 1.12 percent, Public Bank slipped 0.48 percent, Sime Darby tumbled 2.59 percent, Sime Darby Plantations added 0.32 percent, Supermax tanked 2.87 percent, Telekom Malaysia eased 0.17 percent, Tenaga Nasional was down 0.20 percent, Top Glove retreated 2.03 percent and Genting Malaysia, RHB Capital, PPB Group and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.
There's not much guidance from Wall Street as the major averages spent Tuesday's session bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed and little changed.
The Dow rose 3.36 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 33,984.93, while the NASDAQ shed 48.56 points or 0.34 percent to end at 14,090.22 and the S&P 500 eased 0.90 points or 0.02 percent to close at 4,186.72.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as many traders stuck to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy, but traders will look for any changes to the accompanying statement that may signal a shift in the near future.
In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board said consumer confidence spiked in April, hitting its highest level since February 2020.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday as OPEC's decision to gradually increase oil output helped offset concerns about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.03 or 1.7 percent at $62.94 a barrel.
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