Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Malaysia stock market had ended the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than 15 points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,740-point plateau and it may see additional support on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, supported by technology and oil stocks. The European and US. Markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The KLCI finished barely higher on Monday as gains from the industrials were limited by weakness from the financials and mixed performances from the telecoms and plantations.
For the day, the index perked 1.72 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,741.26 after trading between 1,733.06 and 1,743.01.
Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail plummeted 5.57 percent, while AMMB Holdings tanked 2.16 percent, Axiata advanced 0.44 percent, Celcomdigi stumbled 1.57 percent, CIMB Group dropped 0.95 percent, Gamuda lost 0.48 percent, IHH Healthcare eased 0.11 percent, IOI Corporation slipped 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 0.30 percent, Maxis plunged 2.30 percent, Maybank slumped 1.00 percent, MISC spiked 2.36 percent, MRDIY shed 0.54 percent, Nestle Malaysia was up 0.28 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 3.31 percent, Petronas Dagangan climbed 0.59 percent, Petronas Gas rallied 2.09 percent, PPB Group gained 0.36 percent, Press Metal jumped 1.45 percent, Public Bank collected 0.20 percent, RHB Bank tumbled 1.22 percent, Sime Darby added 0.43 percent, SD Guthrie was down 0.17 percent, Sunway vaulted 1.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia sank 0.63 percent, Tenaga Nasional soared 3.30 percent, YTL Corporation expanded 1.02 percent, YTL Power fell 0.33 percent and QL Resources was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, slumped later in the day but still moved solidly back to the upside by the close.
The Dow gained 129.47 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 49,662.66, while the NASDAQ jumped 175.25 points or 0.78 percent to close at 22,753.63 and the S&P 500 added 38.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 6,881.31.
The early strength on Wall Street came as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) surged after the AI chipmaker announced a multi-year, multi-generational strategic partnership with Facebook parent Meta (META) spanning on-premises, cloud and AI infrastructure.
Positive sentiment was also generated some upbeat U.S. economic data, including a Federal Reserve report showing industrial production increased more than expected in January.
However, stocks pulled back off their highs after the release of the minutes of the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting, which said officials remain divided on the outlook for interest rates.
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday after reports that Iran failed to address core U.S. demands in nuclear talks earlier this week. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery soared $2.73 or 4.4 percent to $64.99 a barrel.
Closer to home, Malaysia will release January numbers for consumer prices later today; in December, overall inflation was up 0.3 percent on month and 1.6 percent on year.
Market Analysis
Mild Upside Seen For Malaysia Stock Market
2026-02-19 00:03:27
