(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after it had snapped the three-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,590-point plateau although it's predicted to open in the green on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on tech shares, stimulus hopes and optimism for a coronavirus vaccine. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the plantations.
For the day, the index fell 6.88 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,589.45 after trading between 1,580.39 and 1,609.02. Volume was 12.499 billion shares worth 6.644 billion ringgit. There were 592 decliners and 506 gainers.
Among the actives, Top Glove skyrocketed 8.01 percent, while Public Bank plummeted 3.50 percent, Digi.com plunged 3.35 percent, Axiata tanked 2.37 percent, CIMB Group tumbled 2.22 percent, Hartalega Holdings surged 2.11 percent, Genting Malaysia skidded 2.01 percent, Tenaga Nasional retreated 1.73 percent, Maybank declined 1.51 percent, Maxis surrendered 1.49 percent, Genting dropped 1.48 percent, RHB Capital sank 1.38 percent, Petronas Chemicals shed 1.12 percent, PPB Group climbed 0.97 percent, Sime Darby advanced 0.93 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 0.80 percent, IOI Corporation lost 0.66 percent, Press Metal fell 0.64 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.56 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rose 0.39 percent, MISC increased 0.38 percent, AMMB Holdings was up 0.32 percent and Dialog Group, Malaysia Airports Holdings and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is generally positive as stocks ended in the green, although the Dow spent much of the day in the red until breaking through late in the day.
The Dow added 8.92 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 26,680.87, while the NASDAQ surged 263.90 points or 2.51 percent to end at 10,767.09 and the S&P 500 gained 27.11 points or 0.84 percent to close at 3,251.84.
The spike by the NASDAQ came as traders got back into big-name tech stocks after the index slumped last week - with support from the likes of Amazon (AMZN), software giant Microsoft (MSFT), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and tech giant Apple (AAPL).
The strength on Wall Street also came following positive results from trials of experimental COVID-19 vaccines by Oxford University and AstraZeneca (AZN) and Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX).
The positive news on the vaccine front came as some states continue to see spikes in coronavirus cases, with Florida reporting 12,523 new cases on Saturday, reflecting the fifth consecutive day the state reported more than new 10,000 infections.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday as worries about the energy demand outlook faded slightly on optimism for a potential coronavirus vaccine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.22 or 0.5 percent at $40.81 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
