Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, adding more than seven points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,685-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly soft as investors may look to book gains before the year’s end. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets also figure to tick lower.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the banks and mixed performances from the telecoms, plantations and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 3.54 points or 0.21 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,684.53 after trading as low as 1,673.87.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail surged 1.84 percent, while AMMB Holdings jumped 0.93 percent, Axiata dropped 0.78 percent, Celcomdigi shed 0.62 percent, Gamuda climbed 0.60 percent, IHH Healthcare advanced 0.47 percent, IOI Corporation stumbled 1.72 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slipped 0.40 percent, Maxis rose 0.26 percent, Maybank collected 0.57 percent, MRDIY slumped 1.28 percent, Nestle Malaysia tanked 1.99 percent, Petronas Chemicals and Press Metal both gained 0.28 percent, Petronas Dagangan added 0.30 percent, Petronas Gas was up 0.22 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.55 percent, Public Bank strengthened 0.67 percent, QL Resources eased 0.26 percent, RHB Bank spiked 1.16 percent, Sime Darby fell 0.49 percent, SD Guthrie soared 1.59 percent, Sunway lost 0.53 percent, Telekom Malaysia vaulted 1.13 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.72 percent, YTL Corporation rallied 0.98 percent, YTL Power dipped 0.29 percent and CIMB Group and MISC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and spent most of the day slightly in the red, ending near session lows.

The Dow sank 94.87 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 48,367.06, while the NASDAQ lost 55.27 points or 0.24 percent to close at 23,419.08 and the S&P 500 slipped 9.50 points or 0.14 percent to end at 6,896.24.

Traders initially seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.

However, trading activity remained subdued after the release of the minutes, which reiterated officials’ mixed views about the outlook for interest rates. Participants expressed a “range of views” about the restrictiveness of the Fed’s current monetary policy stance.

The Fed’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for January 27-28, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicating an 83.9 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.

Crude oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as U.S. data showed a modest build in crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $0.16 or 0.28 percent at $57.92 per barrel.