The Malaysian stock market ended its three-day winning streak on Tuesday, during which it had gained over 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index currently sits just below 1,545 points, although a bounce back is anticipated on Wednesday.
Asian markets are expected to show positivity ahead of today's Federal Reserve monetary policy announcement. This follows a positive response from European and U.S. markets.
On Tuesday, the KLCI ended slightly lower due to losses from financial shares, plantation stocks, and telecommunications. Specifically, the index fell 8.68 points, or 0.56 percent, closing at 1,544.96 after reaching a peak at 1,552.10.
Some notable performances among active shares include AMB Holdings, which gained 0.73 percent, and Axiata, which climbed 1.08 percent. On the other hand, Celcomdigi dropped 2.97 percent, CIMB Group fell 0.60 percent, and Genting saw a decline of 1.20 percent. Meanwhile, MRDIY, RHB Capital, Telekom Malaysia, and IOI Corporation witnessed no change.
Wall Street showed an optimistic performance as major averages trended upward throughout Tuesday and ended in the green. Specifically, the Dow jumped 320.33 points or 0.83 percent to 39,110.76, NASDAQ rallied 3.34 points or 0.39 percent to 16,166.79, and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.56 percent to 5,178.51.
Nvidia's unveiling of its new line of AI chips resulted in a market rebound. Market watchers are also anticipating the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. Although interest rates aren't predicted to change, the accompanying statement could affect the rates' outlook.
The U.S. Commerce Department also reported a significant rebound in new residential construction in February, with building permits also seeing an increase.
Lastly, Tuesday saw crude oil futures rise for a second consecutive day as traders continued to assess Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. The West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April shot up by $0.75, settling at $83.47 a barrel.
