Malaysia Bourse May Again Challenge 1,700-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,690-point plateau although it's tipped to open in the green on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets comes on cautious optimism for easing hostilities in the Middle East. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and telecoms, while the plantations and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 10.07 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 1,686.24 after trading between 1,680.01 and 1,692.65. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail declined 2.03 percent, while AMMB Holdings and Press Metal both skidded 1.13 percent, Axiata tumbled 2.17 percent, CIMB Group contracted 1.46 percent, Gamuda rallied 1.53 percent, IHH Healthcare rose 0.23 percent, IOI Corporation spiked 1.90 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 1.09 percent, Maxis shed 0.56 percent, Maybank slumped 1.41 percent, MISC improved 0.96 percent, MRDIY added 0.65 percent, Nestle Malaysia sank 0.89 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 4.11 percent, Petronas Dagangan tanked 2.64 percent, Petronas Gas vaulted 1.22 percent, PPB Group plunged 2.79 percent, Public Bank stumbled 2.13 percent, RHB Bank plummeted 3.26 percent, Sime Darby dropped 0.90 percent, SD Guthrie dipped 0.17 percent, Sunway advanced 0.99 percent, Sunway Healthcare retreated 2.04 percent, Telekom Malaysia fell 0.42 percent, Tenaga Nasional gained 0.43 percent, YTL Corporation lost 0.51 percent and YTL Power and Celcomdigi were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday to climb solidly up into the green by midday.

The Dow jumped 275.88 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 48,185.80, while the NASDAQ rallied 187.42 points or 0.83 percent to end at 22,822.42 and the S&P 500 gained 41.85 points or 0.62 percent to close at 6,824.66.

The early weakness came amid concerns about the fragility of the ceasefire in the Middle East, with Iran accusing the U.S. and Israel of violating the agreement.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh claimed in an interview with the BBC that Iran had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz.

However, stocks rebounded after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would begin negotiating with Lebanon "as soon as possible."

Crude oil prices soared on Thursday as Iran allowed only restricted naval traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, renewing supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.25 or 3.44 percent at $97.66 per barrel.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide unemployment data for February later today; in January, the jobless rate was 2.9 percent.