(RTTNews) – The Malaysia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 10 points or 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,500-point plateau and it figures to remain rangebound again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to U.S. involvement in the Israel/Iran conflict. The European and U.S. markets were mixed but the Asian markets figure to open under water.
The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, weakness from the industrials and mixed performances from the plantations and telecoms.
For the day, the index perked 1.30 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 1,502.74 after trading between 1,500.04 and 1,507.97.
Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail tanked 2.82 percent, while Axiata and RHB Bank both advanced 0.96 percent, Celcomdigi slumped 0.79 percent, CIMB Group increased 1.06 percent, Gamuda declined 1.05 percent, Hong Leong Bank gained 0.41 percent, Hong Leong Financial surged 3.62 percent, IOI Corporation accelerated 1.37 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong spiked 1.42 percent, Maxis soared 1.94 percent, Maybank collected 0.62 percent, MISC rose 0.27 percent, MRDIY sank 0.61 percent, Nestle Malaysia rallied 1.34 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 4.10 percent, Petronas Dagangan climbed 1.33 percent, Petronas Gas plunged 3.00 percent, , PPB Group and Telekom Malaysia both lost 0.30 percent, Press Metal shed 0.41 percent, Public Bank added 0.48 percent, QL Resources was up 0.22 percent, Sime Darby improved 1.23 percent, SD Guthrie retreated 1.32 percent, Sunway fell 0.21 percent, YTL Corporation surrendered 1.85 percent, YTL Power stumbled 2.15 percent and IHH Healthcare and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street remains murky as the major averages opened higher on but quickly fell under water, finally finishing mixed and little changed.
The Dow rose 35.16 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 42,206.82, while the NASDAQ dropped 98.86 points or 0.51 percent to close at 19,447.41 and the S&P 500 sank 13.03 points or 0.22 percent to end at 5,967.84.
The positive boost to kick off trade on Wall Street came after the White House said President Donald Trump sees a “substantial chance of negotiations” and would decide within two weeks whether to authorize a direct U.S. military strike on Iran.
Of course, on Saturday the United States bombed three sites in Iran that are suspected nuclear development areas. The fallout from those attacks remains uncertain.
On the economic front, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said on Friday that regional manufacturing activity remained weak in June. The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity was unchanged in June after jumping to a negative 4.0 in May, with a negative reading indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to rise to a negative 1.0.
Crude oil price slipped on Friday as concerns of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict faded, even as the fighting between the two nations intensified. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery closed down by $0.21 to $74.93 per barrel.
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