The Malaysia stock market has experienced an upswing for two consecutive sessions, gaining nearly 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) now sits just below the 1,670-point mark, although it may face stagnation on Monday.
The global outlook for Asian markets appears pessimistic, with expectations of profit-taking following strong gains late last week. European markets declined, while U.S. markets were mixed and saw little change, which suggests that Asian markets might follow a similar mixed pattern.
On Friday, the KLCI ended slightly higher amid varied performances across sectors such as financials, industrials, telecoms, and plantations. The index increased by 3.17 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 1,668.82, having traded between 1,668.48 and 1,674.04.
Regarding specific stocks, Axiata dropped by 1.19 percent, Celcomdigi decreased by 3.42 percent, CIMB Group rose by 1.81 percent, Genting declined by 0.48 percent, IHH Healthcare fell by 0.70 percent, IOI Corporation was down by 0.26 percent, Maxis retreated by 2.00 percent, Maybank lost 0.38 percent, MISC increased by 0.98 percent, Petronas Chemicals tumbled by 3.01 percent, PPB Group added 0.42 percent, Press Metal inched up by 0.20 percent, Public Bank gained 0.21 percent, QL Resources shed 0.42 percent, RHB Bank advanced by 0.48 percent, Sime Darby slid by 0.84 percent, SD Guthrie spiked 2.16 percent, Sunway gained 0.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia climbed 0.60 percent, YTL Corporation surged 4.62 percent, and YTL Power rose by 4.08 percent. Meanwhile, Genting Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Tenaga Nasional, and MRDIY saw no change.
Wall Street provided little direction as the major averages opened lower on Friday but remained mostly flat, with the Dow barely managing to end in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 38.16 points, or 0.09 percent, to finish at a record 42,063.36. The NASDAQ fell by 65.68 points, or 0.36 percent, closing at 17,948.32, and the S&P 500 declined by 11.09 points, or 0.19 percent, ending at 5,702.55.
For the week, the Dow increased by 1.6 percent, the NASDAQ climbed by 1.5 percent, and the S&P 500 rallied by 1.4 percent.
Initial weakness on Wall Street was partly due to profit-taking as traders capitalized on Thursday’s significant rally, spurred by the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by half a percentage point. However, selling pressure eased throughout the session as traders seemed hesitant to make major moves while awaiting new market catalysts following the Fed’s rate cut.
Oil futures settled marginally lower on Friday, driven largely by profit-taking after last week's solid gains. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October dipped by $0.03 to settle at $71.92 per barrel.
In local economic news, Malaysia will release its August consumer price index (CPI) data later today. In July, overall inflation increased by 0.1 percent month-on-month and 2.0 percent year-on-year.
