Malaysia Bourse May Extend Losing Streak

The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 20 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,740-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with oil and technology stocks likely to weigh. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks, industrials and telecoms.

For the day, the index slipped 6.87 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 1,740.94 after trading between 1,726.92 and 1,749.43.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail shed 0.28 percent, while AMMB Holdings rallied 1.68 percent, Axiata dropped 0.43 percent, Celcomdigi and Kuala Lumpur Kepong both added 0.31 percent, CIMB Group and RHB Bank both eased 0.12 percent, Gamuda vaulted 1.67 percent, IHH Healthcare perked 0.22 percent, IOI Corporation retreated 0.74 percent, Maxis skidded 0.51 percent, Maybank tanked 2.91 percent, MISC and QL Resources both rose 0.25 percent, MRDIY plummeted 4.35 percent, Nestle Malaysia gained 0.27 percent, Petronas Chemicals slumped 0.63 percent, Petronas Dagangan strengthened 1.46 percent, Petronas Gas fell 0.22 percent, PPB Group tumbled 1.09 percent, Press Metal expanded 1.06 percent, Public Bank climbed 1.01 percent, Sime Darby sank 0.42 percent, SD Guthrie declined 0.68 percent, Sunway jumped 1.88 percent, Telekom Malaysia plunged 3.74 percent, YTL Corporation stumbled 2.04 percent and YTL Power and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but trended lower throughout the day, finally ending on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow perked 17.05 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 49,499.20, while the NASDAQ tumbled 273.70 points or 1.18 percent to end at 22,878.38 and the S&P 500 lost 37.27 points or 0.54 percent to close at 6,908.86.

The pullback on Wall Street came amid a negative reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), even though the company reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Networking stocks also showed a notable move to the downside, contributing to the slump by the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices saw early strength Thursday on Mideast tensions but couldn’t hold the gains after progress was reported in talks between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down by $0.11 or 0.2 percent at $65.31 barrel.

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