Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has ticked higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 5 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,600-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on rising ambiguity over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished barely higher on Tuesday as gains from the resource stocks were offset by weakness from the plantations and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index perked 0.21 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,603.55 after trading between 1,602.03 and 1,608.49. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail rallied 1.15 percent, while AMMB Holdings shed 0.53 percent, Celcomdigi skidded 0.80 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.27 percent, Gamuda slid 0.18 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.10 percent, Maybank and PPB Group both dipped 0.20 percent, MISC dropped 0.67 percent, MRDIY retreated 1.25 percent, Nestle Malaysia perked 0.10 percent, Petronas Chemicals slumped 0.90 percent, Petronas Dagangan stumbled 1.35 percent, Petronas Gas advanced 0.77 percent, Press Metal spiked 1.23 percent, Public Bank collected 0.23 percent, QL Resources soared 2.33 percent, RHB Bank gained 0.31 percent, Sime Darby surged 4.76 percent, SD Guthrie sank 0.57 percent, Sunway added 0.36 percent, Tenaga Nasional was down 0.15 percent, YTL Corporation improved 0.74 percent, YTL Power lost 0.48 percent and IHH Healthcare, IOI Corporation, Axiata, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed but trended steadily lower as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 88.76 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 46,292.78, while the NASDAQ shed 215.50 points or 0.95 percent to end at 22,573.47 and the S&P 500 sank 36.83 points or 0.55 percent to close at 6,656.92.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street may partly have reflected concerns that stocks are overvalued following comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Speaking at an event Rhode Island, Powell described equity prices as "fairly highly valued" following the recent run to record highs.

Powell also addressed the outlook for monetary policy, noting that the Fed is facing a "challenging situation" as near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday as Iraq's earlier-announced plans to export oil to Turkey from Kurdistan stalled due to payment issues. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.26 or 2.02 percent at $63.54 per barrel.