The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 20 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,495-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is negative on disappointing earnings news and renewed coronavirus concerns. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the plantation stocks, financial shares and industrials.
For the day, the index dropped 18.33 points or 1.21 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,494.60 after peaking at 1,512.01. Volume was 4.120 billion shares worth 2.718 billion ringgit. There were 665 decliners and 300 gainers.
Among the actives, Axiata tanked 2.86 percent, while CIMB Group skidded 2.20 percent, Dialog Group plunged 3.17 percent, Digi.com retreated 2.12 percent, Genting surrendered 1.46 percent, Genting Malaysia lost 1.08 percent, Hartalega Holdings declined 1.54 percent, IHH Healthcare tumbled 2.59 percent, IOI Corporation dropped 1.35 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong plummeted 3.84 percent, Maybank gave away 0.37 percent, Maxis sank 1.39 percent, MISC was down 0.30 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.75 percent, Petronas Chemicals weakened 0.86 percent, PPB Group slid 0.88 percent, Press Metal dipped 0.62 percent, Public Bank eased 0.25 percent, RHB Capital shed 1.16 percent, Sime Darby slipped 0.46 percent, Sime Darby Plantations cratered 6.34 percent, Telekom Malaysia stumbled 0.83 percent, Tenaga Nasional fell 0.92 percent and Top Glove added 0.25 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained in the red throughout the trading session.
The Dow sank 149.06 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 34,935.47, while the NASDAQ dropped 105.59 points or 0.71 percent to end at 14,672.68 and the S&P 500 fell 23.89 points or 0.54 percent to close at 4,395.26.
For the week, the NASDAQ shed 1.1 percent and the Dow and S&P both eased 0.4 percent. But for the month of July, the S&P spiked 2.3 percent, the Dow rose 1.3 percent and the NASDAQ was up 1.2 percent.
A steep drop from Amazon (AMZN) weighed on the markets, with the online retail giant plunging by 7.6 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a month. This came after the company reported second quarter earnings that beat expectations, but its revenues missed estimates for the first time since the third quarter of 2018.
Caterpillar (CAT), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) also moved to the downside despite reporting quarterly results that exceeded analyst estimates.
In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a slight increase in personal income in June and personal spending also increased. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in U.S. fell less than estimated in July.
Crude oil futures settled higher Friday amid hopes energy demand will grow faster than supply despite a resurgence in coronavirus infections across the globe. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up by $0.33 or 0.5 percent at $73.95 a barrel. WTI Crude futures gained 2.6 percent in the week and 0.7 percent in July.
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