The Malaysia stock market on Monday snapped the three-day slide in which it had fallen more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,580-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky ahead the FOMC decision and statement later this week. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financials, telecoms and glove makers, while the plantations were mixed.
For the day, the index gained 7.30 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,582.46 after trading between 1,578.20 and 1,587.47. Volume was 7.007 billion shares worth 3.938 billion ringgit. There were 565 gainers and 427 decliners.
Among the actives, Axiata rose 0.52 percent, while CIMB Group was up 0.22 percent, Dialog Group accelerated 1.08 percent, Genting gained 0.58 percent, Genting Malaysia jumped 1.01 percent, Hartalega Holdings surged 1.57 percent, IHH Healthcare strengthened 0.36 percent, IOI Corporation dropped 0.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong retreated 1.11 percent, Maybank rose 0.12 percent, Maxis spiked 1.12 percent, MISC sank 0.86 percent, Petronas Chemicals improved 0.25 percent, PPB Group gained 0.11 percent, Press Metal added 0.59 percent, Public Bank collected 0.48 percent, RHB Capital gathered 0.93 percent, Sime Darby perked 0.89 percent, Sime Darby Plantations climbed 0.97 percent, Supermax increased 0.27 percent, Telekom Malaysia advanced 0.82 percent, Tenaga Nasional soared 1.21 percent, Top Glove rallied 1.06 percent and Digi.com and Hong Leong Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened Monday on opposite sides of the unchanged line and finished the same way.
The Dow shed 85.85 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 34,393.75, while the NASDAQ climbed 104.72 points or 0.74 percent to end at 14,174.14 and the S&P 500 rose 7.71 points or 0.18 percent to close at 4,255.15.
The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
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.
Last week's Labor Department report showed consumer price inflation reached the highest level in nearly thirteen years last month, although Fed officials have repeatedly downplayed the risks of prolonged inflation.
Crude oil futures ended slightly lower Monday on news that the next phase of England's lockdown reopening will be delayed due to a surge of the Delta variant of Covid-19. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.03 or 0.04 percent at $70.88 a barrel.
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