The Malaysian stock market made a modest recovery on Friday, halting a three-day decline during which it lost over 15 points, equating to a 0.9% reduction. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) now rests just below the 1,590 mark and appears poised for an upswing on Monday.
Globally, market sentiment remains positive, buoyed by rising oil prices. Both European and U.S. markets experienced gains on Friday, and Asian markets are anticipated to follow suit as they open on Monday.
On Friday, the KLCI showed marginal improvement, with telecommunications seeing gains, while plantation stocks underperformed and financials and industrials displayed mixed results. The index rose by 1.10 points or 0.07%, closing at 1,589.78 after fluctuating between 1,587.74 and 1,593.85 throughout the day.
Significant movements among active stocks included Celcomdigi and IHH Healthcare rising by 0.28%, CIMB Group increasing by 0.12%, and Genting advancing by 0.27%. Conversely, Genting Malaysia dropped by 0.93%, IOI Corporation and Sime Darby both decreased by 1.30%, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell by 2.28%. Maxis pulled back by 1.67%, and MRDIY saw a significant drop of 3.14%, while Nestle Malaysia slipped by 0.31%. Petronas Chemicals experienced a surge of 1.86%, PPB Group advanced 0.89%, and Press Metal increased by 0.86%. Public Bank declined by 0.45%, whereas QL Resources climbed 1.68%, RHB Bank grew by 0.15%, and SD Guthrie was up by 1.25%. Sunway gained 0.40%, Telekom Malaysia improved by 0.63%, Tenaga Nasional rose sharply by 1.45%, YTL Corporation fell notably by 3.28%, and YTL Power dropped by 2.68%. Meanwhile, Axiata and Maybank remained unchanged.
The upbeat momentum from Wall Street contributed to this positive outlook. Major U.S. indices opened higher on Friday and largely maintained that trajectory, closing in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 426.16 points or 0.97%, reaching a record 44,296.51. The NASDAQ edged up by 31.23 points or 0.16%, closing at 19,003.65, and the S&P 500 increased by 20.63 points or 0.35%, finishing at 5,969.34. For the week, the Dow gained 2.0%, while both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 rose by 1.7%.
This rally occurred despite a setback for Nvidia (NVDA) shares, which fell 3.2% even though the company's third-quarter earnings and revenues exceeded expectations.
In U.S. economic developments, revised figures from the University of Michigan revealed that consumer sentiment in November improved less than anticipated, despite reaching its highest level since April.
Oil prices continued to rise on Friday amid escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January delivery closed up by $1.14, or 1.6%, at $71.24 per barrel, culminating in a weekly gain of 6.5% for WTI crude futures.
