Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Malaysia stock market had moved lower in two straight sessions, although it had given up less than a single point or 0.1 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,510-point plateau and it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests little movement, with many countries still off for the Lunar New Year holiday. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished barely lower in Friday's half-day session following mixed performances from the financial shares, telecoms and plantations.
For the day, the index eased 0.08 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,512.28 after trading between 1,509.56 and 1,514.72.
Among the actives, Axiata rose 0.36 percent, while Celcomdigi gathered 0.24 percent, CIMB Group slumped 0.64 percent, Genting surged 1.87 percent, Genting Malaysia rallied 1.07 percent, IHH Healthcare eased 0.16 percent, IOI Corporation lost 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.54 percent, MISC collected 0.27 percent, MRDIY tumbled 2.08 percent, Press Metal perked 0.22 percent, Public Bank sank 0.46 percent, Sime Darby shed 0.41 percent, Sime Darby Plantations fell 0.22 percent, Telekom Malaysia gained 0.52 percent, YTL Corporation climbed 0.87 percent, YTL Power jumped 1.25 percent and QL Resources, RHB Capital, AMMB Holdings, Tenaga Nasional, Maxis, Maybank, PPB Group and Petronas Chemicals were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat, quickly moved higher but then faded, with only the Dow holding its gains and hitting a fresh record close.
The Dow gained 125.69 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 38,797.38, while the NASDAQ sank 48.12 points or 0.30 percent to close at 15,942.54 and the S&P 500 eased 4.77 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,021.84.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a breather following recent strength, which has lifted the S&P 500 above 5,000 for the first time. The NASDAQ has also shown a significant advance in recent sessions, closing in on the record highs set in November 2021.
A lack of major U.S. economic data also kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports in the coming days. Later today, the Labor Department is due to release its report on consumer price inflation for January, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
Treasuries fluctuated on Monday before eventually ending the day modestly higher. After an early move to the upside, bond prices gave back ground but rebounded in the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, eased 1.5 basis points to 4.172 percent.
Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Monday as demand concerns outweighed potential supply disruptions. The dollar's recovery from lower levels also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $76.92 a barrel, up $0.08 from the previous close.
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