The Malaysia stock market has seen a decline in two of the past three trading days following a three-day winning streak that added nearly a dozen points or 0.7 percent to the index. Currently, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) stands just above the 1,625-point mark, with expectations for a rebound on Wednesday.
Global economic trends suggest a positive outlook for Asian markets, buoyed by strong earnings reports and optimistic interest rate projections. While European markets closed lower, U.S. markets posted gains, indicating that Asian markets might follow the U.S. lead.
On Tuesday, the KLCI finished slightly lower with losses in financial and telecom sectors, while plantation stocks had mixed performances. The index dropped 3.86 points or 0.24 percent to close at 1,625.96 after fluctuating between 1,624.39 and 1,633.97.
Key movements within the market included:
- Axiata gained 0.79 percent
- Celcomdigi declined 2.17 percent
- CIMB Group fell 0.42 percent
- Genting rose 1.28 percent
- Genting Malaysia increased by 0.39 percent
- IHH Healthcare up 0.16 percent
- IOI Corporation and YTL Corporation both decreased by 0.54 percent
- Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 0.81 percent
- Maxis dropped 1.79 percent
- Maybank lost 0.39 percent
- MISC and Petronas Dagangan both eased 0.12 percent
- MRDIY surged by 5.61 percent
- Petronas Chemicals tumbled 1.65 percent
- Press Metal declined 0.83 percent
- QL Resources fell 0.30 percent
- RHB Capital dropped 0.53 percent
- Sime Darby plummeted 3.25 percent
- SD Guthrie rallied 1.19 percent
- Sunway decreased 0.48 percent
- Telekom Malaysia rose 0.57 percent
- Tenaga Nasional dipped 0.14 percent
- YTL Power gained 0.61 percent
- PPB Group, Public Bank, and Hong Leong Financial remained unchanged
In the U.S. markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 742.76 points, or 1.85 percent, to close at a record 40,945.48. The NASDAQ added 36.77 points, or 0.20 percent, ending at 18,509.34, and the S&P 500 rose 35.98 points, or 0.64 percent, to a record 5,667.20.
The positive momentum on Wall Street was driven by strong earnings from companies such as UnitedHealth, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley. Investors also responded positively to recent U.S. economic data, which showed that retail sales remained unchanged in June, with import prices showing no change and export prices declining by 0.5 percent.
Gold stocks saw considerable strength due to a sharp rise in gold prices, pushing the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.4 percent to a two-year high.
Conversely, oil prices continued their downward trend for the third consecutive session, driven by demand concerns and a slightly stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August fell $1.15, or 1.4 percent, to $80.76 per barrel.
