Win Streak May Continue For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 15 points or 1 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,635-point plateau and it's expected to see additional support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat amid optimism about an end to the record-setting U.S. government shutdown. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the telecoms and plantations, while the financials and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index added 7.45 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,634.83 after trading between 1,630.77 and 1,642.90. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail spiked 2.29 percent, while AMMB Holdings sank 0.69 percent, Axiata accelerated 2.22 percent, Celcomdigi and Petronas Gas both increased 0.54 percent, CIMB Group advanced 0.92 percent, Gamuda added 0.59 percent, IHH Healthcare climbed 0.97 percent, IOI Corporation expanded 0.74 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong strengthened 1.33 percent, Maxis jumped 1.97 percent, Maybank lost 0.30 percent, MISC retreated 1.65 percent, Petronas Chemicals stumbled 2.19 percent, Petronas Dagangan rose 0.35 percent, PPB Group rallied 1.88 percent, Public Bank collected 0.70 percent, QL Resources surged 3.79 percent, RHB Bank dropped 0.87 percent, Sime Darby gained 0.49 percent, SD Guthrie improved 0.55 percent, Telekom Malaysia vaulted 1.24 percent, Tenaga Nasional gathered 0.30 percent, YTL Corporation soared 2.41 percent, YTL Power perked 0.26 percent and MRDIY, Nestle Malaysia, Press Metal and Sunway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is incongruous as the major averages opened mixed and ultimately finished the same way.

The Dow jumped 559.33 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 47,927.96, while the NASDAQ slumped 58.87 points or 0.25 percent to close at 23,468.30 and the S&P 500 rose 14.18 points or 0.21 percent to end at 6,846.61.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders express some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets - especially the possibility of a tech bubble - following recent volatility.

However, valuation concerns continue to hang over the markets, as traders had largely shrugged off worries about the economic impact of the shutdown.

A sharp increase by the price of crude oil has also contributed to considerable strength among energy stocks, which are moving higher along with biotechnology and healthcare stocks.

On the other hand, semiconductor stocks have come under pressure, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.0 percent.