Ahead of Monday's holiday for Yang Dipertuan Agong's birthday, the Malaysia stock market had tracked lower in back-to-back trading days, sinking almost 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,580-point plateau although it may find support on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests directionless trade amidst a lack of catalysts, with weakness from the oil stocks offset by gains from technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financials, plantations and glove makers.
For the day, the index shed 12.12 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 1,578.45 after trading between 1,573.34 and 1,590.31. Volume was 7.208 billion shares worth 3.574 billion ringgit. There were 605 decliners and 451 gainers.
Among the actives, Axiata slid 0.51 percent, while CIMB Group fell 0.67 percent, Dialog Group jumped 1.39 percent, Digi.com plummeted 3.02 percent, Hartalega Holdings surrendered 1.27 percent, IHH Healthcare retreated 1.49 percent, IOI Corporation declined 1.47 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong sank 1.10 percent, Maybank slipped 0.37 percent, Maxis and Sime Darby both shed 0.88 percent, MISC plunged 2.43 percent, Petronas Chemicals added 0.37 percent, PPB Group was down 0.32 percent, Press Metal perked 0.19 percent, Public Bank dropped 0.94 percent, RHB Capital lost 0.73 percent, Sime Darby Plantations skidded 1.57 percent, Supermax tanked 2.24 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 0.82 percent, Tenaga Nasional dipped 0.50 percent, Top Glove tumbled 2.00 percent and Genting, Genting Malaysia and Petronas Gas were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages quickly headed south on Monday; the Dow and the S&P saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, while the NASDAQ ended up in positive territory.
The Dow dropped 126.15 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 34,630.24, while the NASDAQ gained 67.23 points or 0.49 percent to end at 13,881.72 and the S&P 500 fell 3.37 points or 0.08 percent to close at 4,226.52.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves after the major averages climbed to their best closing levels in a month last week.
Traders remain optimistic about the economic outlook but are still on edge about the possibility of the Federal Reserve scaling back its ultra-easy monetary policy.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Monday, coming off 30-month highs after data showed a drop in China's crude oil imports in April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.39 or 0.6 percent at $69.23 a barrel.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
