The Malaysia stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up just 2 points or 0.1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,400-point plateau and it's likely to spin its wheels again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is soft, with profit taking expected ahead of key jobs data from the United States later in the week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials and mixed performances from the plantations and telecoms.
For the day, the index fell 8.02 points or 0.57 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,396.91 after peaking at 1,406.04.
Among the actives, Axiata sank 0.72 percent, while Celcomdigi was up 0.22 percent, Dialog Group jumped 1.90 percent, Genting tanked 1.41 percent, Genting Malaysia retreated 1.18 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.63 percent, Inari lost 0.40 percent, IOI Corporation and Kuala Lumpur Kepong both slumped 1.01 percent, Maxis rose 0.23 percent, Maybank eased 0.12 percent, MISC advanced 0.69 percent, MRDIY climbed 1.62 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 1.75 percent, Press Metal plummeted 3.47 percent, Public Bank declined 1.29 percent, RHB Capital fell 0.37 percent, Sime Darby skidded 0.98 percent, Sime Darby Plantations gained 0.24 percent, Telekom Malaysia dropped 0.96 percent, Tenaga Nasional tumbled 1.33 percent and CIMB Group, PPB Group and QL Resources were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is not encouraging as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday but started to trend lower as the day progressed, with the Dow finishing in the red.
The Dow shed 50.56 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 33,042.78, while the NASDAQ rose 41.74 points or 0.32 percent to close at 13,017.43 and the S&P 500 perked 0.07 points or 0.00 percent to end at 4,205.52.
The early strength on Wall Street materialized on the weekend's news that an agreement had been reached to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a disastrous default by the U.S. government.
Much of that had already been priced in, however, and stocks faded ahead of Friday's jobs report amid concerns about further interest rate hikes.
In economic news, the Conference Board said consumer confidence in the U.S. saw a modest decrease from an upwardly revised level in May.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, weighed down by doubts about China's economic recovery and uncertainty over whether the Congress will pass the debt deal this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $3.21 or 4.4 percent at $69.46 a barrel.
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