The Malaysian stock market has posted losses for five consecutive sessions, experiencing a decline of over 20 points or 1.2 percent during this period. Currently, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) is positioned slightly above the 1,590-point mark and is expected to remain around this level on Monday.
The global outlook for Asian markets remains unimpressive, with pressure anticipated from oil and technology sectors. European markets closed lower, while the U.S. markets exhibited mixed and flat performances, suggesting that Asian markets may see a mixed response.
On Friday, the KLCI closed marginally lower due to mixed results across financial, plantation, and telecom sectors. The index fell by 2.32 points or 0.15 percent, settling at 1,590.37, with intra-day trading fluctuating between 1,590.00 and 1,598.16.
Active stocks showed varied performances: Axiata dropped by 1.51 percent; Celcomdigi fell by 2.70 percent; CIMB Group increased by 0.74 percent; Genting rose by 1.71 percent; Genting Malaysia surged by 2.36 percent; IHH Healthcare decreased by 0.48 percent; IOI Corporation declined by 0.53 percent; Kuala Lumpur Kepong spiked by 1.97 percent; Maxis dropped by 0.85 percent; Maybank fell by 0.70 percent; MISC climbed by 0.95 percent; MRDIY retreated by 1.55 percent; Petronas Chemicals declined by 0.92 percent; PPB Group slid by 0.83 percent; Press Metal tumbled by 1.72 percent; Public Bank dropped by 0.74 percent; Sime Darby rallied by 1.19 percent; Telekom Malaysia rose by 0.15 percent; Tenaga Nasional shed 0.58 percent; YTL Corporation soared by 1.99 percent; YTL Power added 0.59 percent. Other firms like QL Resources, RHB Capital, SD Guthrie, Hong Leong Bank, and Nestle Malaysia saw no change.
Wall Street's performance on Friday was moderately discouraging, with major indices opening lower and finishing mixed but relatively unchanged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.53 points (0.04 percent) to close at 39,150.33; the NASDAQ Composite fell by 32.24 points (0.18 percent) to end at 17,689.36; and the S&P 500 declined by 8.55 points (0.16 percent) to close at 5,464.62.
For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow gained 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 rose by 0.6 percent, and the NASDAQ remained nearly flat. The choppy trading reflected investors' reactions to recent market activities, including the record intraday highs reached by the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 before they turned lower.
Investors remained focused on Nvidia (NVDA), whose share performance has been a significant market driver. Nvidia's shares decreased by 3.2 percent on Friday, after briefly surpassing Microsoft (MSFT) as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
Economically, the National Association of Realtors reported that U.S. existing home sales in May dropped in line with expectations. Additionally, a report by the Conference Board indicated that leading U.S. economic indicators fell more than anticipated last month.
Oil futures saw a decline on Friday, affected by concerns about global oil demand and a stronger U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for July fell by $0.56 or 0.7 percent to $80.73 per barrel for the week, although it posted a weekly gain of 3 percent.
Looking ahead, Malaysia will release its consumer price data for May later today. In April, inflation increased by 0.2 percent month-on-month and 1.8 percent year-on-year.
