Malaysia Bourse May Open Under Water On Tuesday

The Malaysia stock market has inched lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost 3 points of 0.2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,710-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to ongoing geopolitical concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. markets were closed and the Asian bourses are also likely to open under water.

The KLCI finished barely lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantations, telecoms and industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 0.41 points or 0.02 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,712.33 after moving as low as 1,704.64.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail lost 0.52 percent, while AMMB Holdings shed 0.61 percent, Axiata plummeted 2.38 percent, Celcomdigi sank 0.88 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.48 percent, Gamuda contracted 1.29 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.36 percent, IOI Corporation retreated 1.48 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rallied 2.00 percent, Maxis tumbled 1.52 percent, MISC slumped 1.41 percent, MRDIY skidded 1.16 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 3.04 percent, Petronas Dagangan spiked 2.03 percent, Petronas Gas perked 0.11 percent, PPB Group climbed 0.91 percent, Public Bank jumped 1.48 percent, QL Resources added 0.49 percent, RHB Bank declined 1.46 percent, Sime Darby soared 2.43 percent, SD Guthrie was up 0.18 percent, Sunway dropped 0.89 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.26 percent, Tenaga Nasional eased 0.29 percent, YTL Power stumbled 1.97 percent and Press Metal, Nestle Malaysia, YTL Corporation and Maybank were unchanged.

The U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, while the European markets spent the entire session in the red amid rising geopolitical tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan to acquire Greenland.

Trump said NATO had warned Denmark for years about the “Russian threat” to Greenland and claimed Copenhagen had failed to act. “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform ahead of this week’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

Also weighing on stocks was Trump’s announcement of a 10 percent tariff on several EU countries from next month, which raises the tariff on all imports to the U.S. to 25 percent.

Reports suggest that the EU is considering a retaliatory move that would place tariffs on 93 billion euros of U.S. goods or restrict U.S. firms’ access to its internal market.

Closer to home, Malaysia will release December figures for imports, exports, trade balance and inflation later today. In November, imports were up 15.8 percent on year and exports rose an annual 7.0 percent for a trade surplus of MYR6.10 billion. Overall consumer prices were flat on month in November and up 1.4 percent on year.