The Malaysian stock market has consistently risen in the last two sessions, accumulating nearly 7 points or a half percent increase overall. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index currently stands just above the 1,540-point plateau, although it could potentially lose momentum come Monday.
The global outlook for Asian markets is currently varied, with the strength of tech stocks balancing out weaknesses in the oil sector. European and U.S. markets have demonstrated a mixed performance, suggesting that Asian markets may be likely to follow a similar trajectory.
On Friday, the KLCI finished fractionally higher mainly due to gains in the telecom sector while financial shares and plantation stocks demonstrated mixed performances. The index increased by 0.98 points or 0.06 percent, closing at 1,542.39 after fluctuating between 1,537.92 and 1,543.84.
In the daily activities, Axiata and Celcomdigi saw a rise of 0.36 percent and 1.38 percent respectively while others like Genting and IHH Healthcare decreased by 1.02 and 0.17 percent respectively. Other companies like Maybank, MRDIY, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong saw an increase, while Petronas Chemicals reported a decrease. Other corporations like MISC, CIMB Group, IOI Corporation reported no significant change.
Wall Street's performance on Friday offers limited guidance, with the primary stock indices displaying mixed results; the Dow and S&P 500 ended lower while the NASDAQ closed slightly higher.
An early trading profit-taking approach led to modest weakness, with some traders opting to benefit from recent market strengths. However, overall optimism about the future interest rates kept the selling pressure rather subdued, especially after last week's Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.
While there is some uncertainty about the timing of the first-rate, the likelihood of a quarter-point rate cut in June has bounced back to 66.5 percent, as suggested by the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Tech-giant Nvidia was a leading contributor to the NASDAQ's mild increase, with the chipmaker's stock surging by 3.1 percent. Also contributing to market performance was the drop in oil prices on Friday, associated with a sharp rise in the dollar, following Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates higher for now.
Closer to Malaysian front, February's consumer price index data will be released later today; previously, in January, inflation increased by 0.2 percent month-on-month and 1.5 percent year-on-year.
