The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,575-point plateau although it's due for support on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is upbeat, with support from oil and technology stocks in particular. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the glove makers and plantations, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index dipped 4.74 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 1,575.16 after trading between 1,571.58 and 1,584.09. Volume was 5.327 billion shares worth 2.971 billion ringgit. There were 531 decliners and 443 gainers.
Among the actives, Axiata added 0.26 percent, while CIMB Group dropped 0.87 percent, Dialog Group climbed 1.02 percent, Digi.com surrendered 0.94 percent, Genting lost 0.39 percent, Genting Malaysia fell 0.33 percent, Hartalega Holdings tumbled 1.43 percent, IHH Healthcare spiked 1.67 percent, IOI Corporation shed 0.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 1.19 percent, Maxis retreated 1.33 percent, MISC jumped 1.16 percent, Petronas Chemicals eased 0.12 percent, PPB Group perked 0.11 percent, Press Metal skidded 1.36 percent, Public Bank collected 0.24 percent, Sime Darby sank 0.88 percent, Sime Darby Plantations plunged 2.36 percent, Supermax plummeted 2.88 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.16 percent, Tenaga Nasional gained 0.10 percent, Top Glove tanked 1.67 percent and Maybank and RHB Capital were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up being mildly positive as stocks opened higher on Friday but quickly dropped into the red before a late recovery saw them finish with mild upside.
The Dow added 13.36 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 34,479.60, while the NASDAQ gained 49.09 points or 0.35 percent to end at 14,069.42 and the S&P 500 rose 8.26 points or 0.19 percent to close at 4,247.44. For the week, the NASDAQ jumped 1.8 percent, the Dow fell 0.8 percent and the S&P gained 0.4 percent.
Traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of this week's Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. The Fed is widely expected to leave its monetary policy unchanged, but traders will be looking for any clues the central bank is considering tapering its asset purchases.
In economic news, the University of Michigan reported a bigger than expected rebound in its consumer sentiment index in June.
Crude oil prices moved higher Friday on rising expectations that global energy demand will pick up thanks to accelerating in vaccination rollouts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July settled at $70.91 a barrel, gaining $0.62 or 0.9 percent. For the week, WTI Crude futures rose 1.9 percent, rising for a third straight week.
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