Ahead of Monday’s Labor Day holiday, the Malaysia stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,415-point plateau and it’s likely to be rangebound again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the FOMC’s rate decision on Wednesday. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the financial shares, telecoms and plantation stocks were mitigated by support from the industrials.
For the day, the index dipped 2.10 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,415.95 after trading between 1,412.84 and 1,420.50.
Among the actives, Axiata fell 0.33 percent, while CIMB Group and Telekom Malaysia both eased 0.20 percent, Dialog Group tumbled 2.14 percent, Genting Malaysia slumped 0.73 percent, IHH Healthcare retreated 0.87 percent, INARI advanced 1.32 percent, IOI Corporation sank 0.52 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 1.65 percent, Maxis and Tenaga Nasional both rose 0.23 percent, Maybank lost 0.46 percent, MISC improved 0.55 percent, MRDIY added 0.64 percent, Petronas Chemicals gained 0.57 percent, PPB Group dropped 0.49 percent, Press Metal jumped 1.38 percent, RHB Capital skidded 0.72 percent, Sime Darby Plantations declined 0.93 percent and QL Resources, Genting, Petronas Gas, Sime Darby, Public Bank, Digi.com and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up negative after the major averages spent most of Monday in positive territory before a late slide saw them finish slightly in the red.
The Dow shed 46.46 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 34,051.70, while the NASDAQ lost 13.99 points or 0.11 percent to close at 12,212.60 and the S&P 500 eased 1.61 points or 0.04 percent to end at 4,167.87.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
While the Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.
In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth straight month in April. Also, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected increase in U.S construction spending in March.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday, weighed down by concerns about economic growth and worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.12 or 1.5 percent at $75.66 a barrel.
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