The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday ended the nine-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 75 points or 4.8 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,535-point plateau and now it's tipped to open in the green again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on earnings optimism and ahead of the FOMC's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the plantations and mixed performances from the financials and glove makers.
For the day, the index rose 6.71 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 1537.63 after trading between 1,532.21 and 1,544.00. Volume was 3.654 billion shares worth 2.705 billion ringgit. There were 629 gainers and 404 decliners.
Among the actives, Axiata improved 0.52 percent, while CIMB Group climbed 0.99 percent, Dialog Group surged 1.76 percent, Digi.com advanced 0.95 percent, Genting rallied 1.38 percent, Genting Malaysia gained 0.64 percent, Hartalega Holdings accelerated 1.41 percent, IHH Healthcare lost 0.31 percent, IOI Corporation soared 1.55 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was up 0.38 percent, Maxis spiked 1.52 percent, MISC rose 0.58 percent, MRDIY plummeted 3.26 percent, Petronas Chemicals slumped 0.84 percent, PPB Group shed 0.33 percent, Press Metal jumped 1.09 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.56 percent, Sime Darby increased 0.45 percent, Sime Darby Plantations skyrocketed 6.25 percent, Telekom Malaysia added 0.73 percent, Top Glove plunged 2.64 percent and Maybank, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages immediately shook off a soft open in Tuesday and moved into the green, finishing the day at fresh record highs.
The Dow climbed 138.79 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 36,052.63, while the NASDAQ gained 53.69 points or 0.34 percent to close at 15,649.60 and the S&P 500 rose 16.98 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,630.65.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, as traders reacted to another batch of upbeat earnings news from the likes of athletic apparel maker Under Armour (UAA), drugmaker Pfizer (PFE) and chemical company DuPont (DD).
Overall trading activity was subdued, however, as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Fed announcement. The Fed is expected to announce plans to begin scaling back its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases by next month.
The language of the Fed's statement is likely to be in focus as traders look for clues about the outlook for interest rates amid concerns about the high rate of inflation.
Crude oil futures settled lower Tuesday on concerns about growth after data showed a slowdown in Eurozone manufacturing activity amid rising input costs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled at $83.91 a barrel, losing $0.14 or 0.2 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com