The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 65 points or 4.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,400-point plateau although it's predicted to rebound again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive as financial institutions around the world continue to takes steps to head off more turmoil. The European and U. S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financials and plantations and a mixed picture from the telecoms.
For the day, the index sank 9.92 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 1,401.81 after trading between 1,400.49 and 1,408.52.
Among the actives, Axiata skidded 0.98 percent, while CIMB Group and AMMB Holdings both stumbled 1.34 percent, Dialog Group declined 1.30 percent, Digi.com spiked 2.47 percent, Genting shed 0.67 percent, Genting Malaysia sank 0.78 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.34 percent, IOI Corporation retreated 1.28 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong tanked 2.60 percent, Maybank fell 0.48 percent, Maxis rallied 1.55 percent, MISC added 0;57 percent, MRDIY plunged 3.03 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 3.18 percent, PPB Group eased 0.12 percent, Press Metal perked 0.21 percent, Public Bank lost 0.50 percent, Sime Darby surrendered 1.39 percent, Sime Darby Plantations slumped 1.17 percent, Telekom Malaysia tumbled 2.02 percent, Tenaga Nasional dropped 0.84 percent and INARI, RHB Capital and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all eventually settled firmly in the green.
The Dow surged 382.60 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 32,244.58, while the NASDAQ rose 45.02 points or 0.39 percent to close at 11,675.54 and the S&P 500 added 34.93 points or 0.89 percent to end at 3,951.57.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest efforts to address turmoil in the banking sector, including UBS Group's (UBS) state-backed acquisition of Credit Suisse (CS).
The Federal Reserve also announced it has joined with other central banks around to world to take coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements.
Traders were also looking ahead to the Fed's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 26.9 percent chance interest rates will remain unchanged and a 73.1 percent chance of a 25-basis point rate hike.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday to settle on a firm note, shrugging off concerns the banking chaos might lead to financial crisis or a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $0.90 or 1.4 percent at $67.64 a barrel.
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