(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 5 points or 0.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,720-point plateau and it may extend those losses on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on surging oil prices and uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the telecoms, industrials and plantations.
For the day, the index shed 9.18 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 1,720.42 after trading between 1,718.45 and 1,733.84. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail slid 0.29 percent, while AMMB Holdings lost 0.32 percent, Axiata slumped 0.88 percent, Celcomdigi jumped 1.36 percent, CIMB Group tanked 1.16 percent, Gamuda declined 0.90 percent, IOI Corporation dropped 0.70 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.29 percent, Maxis tumbled 1.13 percent, Maybank plummeted 1.60 percent, MISC perked 0.12 percent, Nestle Malaysia improved 0.59 percent, Petronas Dagangan plunged 1.26 percent, Petronas Gas skidded 0.78 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.71 percent, Press Metal stumbled 1.14 percent, Public Bank sank 0.63 percent, RHB Bank fell 0.24 percent, SD Guthrie dipped 0.17 percent, Telekom Malaysia retreated 0.91 percent, Tenaga Nasional gained 0.55 percent, YTL Corporation shed 0.48 percent, YTL Power rose 0.26 percent and IHH Healthcare, Petronas Chemicals, Sunway, Sunway Healthcare, MRDIY and Sime Darby were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and hugged the line for most of the day, finally ending mixed.
The Dow dropped 280.12 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 48,861.81, while the NASDAQ perked 9.44 points or 0.04 percent to close at 24,673.24 and the S&P 500 eased 2.85 points or 0.04 percent to end at 7,135.95.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of earnings news after the close from big-name tech companies such as Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT).
Traders also kept an eye on the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement, with the central bank announcing its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged in an unusually divided vote.
Crude oil prices surged again on Wednesday as an end to the Middle East war still remains elusive, keeping the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz in place. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $6.79 or 6.79 percent at $106.72 per barrel.
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