Little Movement Expected For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day slide in which it had given up 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,660-point plateau and it's likely to be rangebound again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with weakness from the technology shares likely to cap any upside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and telecoms, while the industrials and plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index rose 5.00 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 1,661.83 after trading between 1,657.77 and 1,666.26.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail vaulted 1.40 percent, while AMMB Holdings advanced 0.63 percent, Celcomdigi surged 2.21 percent, CIMB Group added 0.40 percent, Gamuda plunged 3.02 percent, IHH Healthcare declined 1.57 percent, IOI Corporation perked 0.24 percent, IOI Properties tanked 2.07 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dipped 0.10 percent, Maxis strengthened 1.75 percent, Maybank collected 0.75 percent, MISC retreated 1.94 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.85 percent, Nestle Malaysia rose 0.26 percent, Petronas Chemicals soared 1.97 percent, Petronas Dagangan improved 0.53 percent, Petronas Gas eased 0.11 percent, PPB Group rallied 1.86 percent, Press Metal dropped 0.79 percent, Public Bank accelerated 1.89 percent, RHB Bank gained 0.37 percent, SD Guthrie climbed 1.00 percent, Sunway slumped 0.98 percent, Sunway Health expanded 1.09 percent, Telekom Malaysia spiked 1.91 percent, Tenaga Nasional increased 0.42 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 3.70 percent, YTL Power tumbled 2.01 percent and Axiata was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but slumped after the release of U.S. jobless data; the markers eventually recovered to finish mixed.

The Dow jumped 594.83 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 52,900.07, while the NASDAQ tumbled 207.36 points or 0.80 percent to end at 25,832.67 and the S&P 500 perked 0.01 point or 0.00 percent to close at 7,483.24.

The markets opened slightly higher on Thursday but were clearly waiting on the jobs data. Stocks sank after the Labor Department said employment in the U.S. increased much less than expected in June.

Sentiment eventually turned higher again as the lower-than-expected payrolls data caused markets to tone down fears of an immediate rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

In other U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department reported a steep drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in May, thanks to a sharp pullback in new orders for durable goods. Also, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday after the U.S. and Iran expressed contradictory remarks over the management of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $0.05 or 0.07 percent at $68.63 per barrel.