Ahead of the long weekend for Eid-ul-Fitr, the Malaysia stock market had ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 10 points or 0.7 percent. The Kuala Composite Index now rests just above the 1,580-point plateau tipped to open in the green on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected especially from the technology and oil stocks. The European and U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and glove makers, while the plantation stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index rose 4.88 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1582.52 after trading between 1,572.99 and 1,583.13. Volume was 2.589 billion shares worth 1.925 billion ringgit. There were 582 gainers and 361 decliners.
Among the actives, Axiata rallied 1.37 percent, while CIMB Group accelerated 1.95 percent, Dialog Group tumbled 1.64 percent, Digi.com added 0.48 percent, Genting Malaysia climbed 1.47 percent, Hartalega Holdings advanced 0.63 percent, IHH Healthcare tanked 2.33 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Hong Leong, Financial both gathered 1.08 percent, Maybank collected 0.24 percent, Maxis dropped 0.66 percent, MISC sank 1.03 percent, Petronas Chemicals skidded 1.46 percent, PPB Group jumped 1.74 percent, Public Bank perked 0.98 percent, RHB Capital soared 3.13 percent, Sime Darby gained 0.45 percent, Sime Darby Plantations plunged 2.36 percent, Supermax spiked 3.02 percent, Telekom Malaysia plummeted 2.42 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.40 percent, Top Glove surged 3.28 percent and Genting, IOI Corporation and Press Metal were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened well into the green on Friday and picked up steam as the day progressed.
The Dow jumped 360.73 points or 1.06 percent, while the NASDAQ surged 304.98 points or 2.32 percent to end at 13,429.98 and the S&P 500 spiked 61.35 points or 1.49 percent to close at 4,173.85. For the week, the Dow shed 1.1 percent, the NASDAQ sank 2.3 percent and the S&P fell 1.4 percent.
The strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the sell-off seen earlier in the week.
A Commerce Department report showing retail sales were virtually unchanged in April after soaring by an upwardly revised 10.7 percent in March may also have eased concerns about the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy.
Also, the Federal Reserve said industrial output in the U.S. increased less than expected in April, while the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in May.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Friday, due largely to short covering after the setback in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended up by $1.55 or 2.4 percent at $65.37 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 0.7 percent for the week.
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