Malaysia Bourse May Find Traction On Monday.

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 5 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,615-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the financials, telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index dipped 2.39 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,617.57 after trading between 1,614.60 and 1,618.86. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail tumbled 1.18 percent, while AMMB Holdings increased 0.35 percent, Axiata added 0.73 percent, Celcomdigi retreated 0.88 percent, CIMB Group slumped 0.93 percent, Gamuda gained 0.37 percent, IHH Healthcare eased 0.12 percent, IOI Corporation shed 0.25 percent, Maybank collected 0.40 percent, MISC was up 0.13 percent, MRDIY jumped 1.96 percent, Nestle Malaysia skidded 1.15 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 2.69 percent, Petronas Dagangan tanked 2.14 percent, Petronas Gas gathered 0.22 percent, PPB Group stumbled 1.26 percent, Press Metal perked 0.15 percent, Public Bank dropped 0.47 percent, QL Resources lost 0.23 percent, RHB Bank rose 0.14 percent, SD Guthrie advanced 0.75 percent, Sunway improved 0.54 percent, Telekom Malaysia rallied 1.39 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.30 percent, YTL Corporation climbed 0.82 percent, YTL Power plummeted 2.87 percent and Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Maxis and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Friday but rallied in the afternoon, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 493.15 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 46,245.41, while the NASDAQ rallied 195.03 points or 0.88 percent to end at 22,273.08 and the S&P 500 gained 64.23 points or 0.98 percent to close at 6,602.99.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.7 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent and the Dow slumped 1.9 percent.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected renewed optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates at its next monetary policy meeting in December following dovish remarks by New York Federal Reserve President John Williams.

Potentially adding to the optimism about the outlook for interest rates, the University of Michigan released a report showing decreases by both year-ahead inflation and long-run inflation expectations in November.

Crude oil prices slumped Friday on oversupply concerns after Ukraine expressed support for the U.S. peace plan to stop the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down by $0.86 or 1.46 percent at $58.14 per barrel.