Win Streak May Continue For Malaysia Bourse

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, picking up more than 10 points or 0.6 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,615-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, weakness from the telecoms and mixed results from the plantations and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 5.27 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 1,613.27 after trading between 1,607.03 and 1,615.30. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail increased 0.63 percent, while AMMB Holdings dipped 0.18 percent, Axiata lost 0.38 percent, Celcomdigi sank 0.56 percent, CIMB Group gained 0.55 percent, Gamuda dropped 0.59 percent, IOI Corporation climbed 1.01 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.10 percent, Maxis jumped 1.32 percent, Maybank added 0.61 percent, MISC soared 3.20 percent, Petronas Chemicals surged 3.54 percent, Petronas Gas rallied 1.08 percent, PPB Group advanced 0.90 percent, Press Metal perked 0.16 percent, Public Bank collected 0.24 percent, QL Resources rose 0.23 percent, RHB Bank fell 0.30 percent, Sime Darby shed 0.47 percent, SD Guthrie slumped 0.76 percent, Sunway tanked 1.96 percent, Telekom Malaysia stumbled 2.43 percent, Tenaga Nasional improved 0.76 percent, YTL Corporation spiked 2.83 percent, YTL Power strengthened 1.31 percent and MRDIY, Nestle Malaysia, Petronas Dagangan and IHH Healthcare were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened solidly higher on Friday and remained well in the green throughout the trading day and all hit fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 472.52 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 47,207.12, while the NASDAQ rallied 263.07 points or 1.15 percent to end at 23,204.87 and the S&P 500 added 53.25 points or 0.79 percent to close at 6,791.69.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a closely watched report on consumer price inflation that increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the coming months.

While most U.S. economic data has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing government shutdown, the Labor Department released a report showing consumer prices increased less than expected in September.

Buying interest was also generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like Ford (F), Procter & Gamble (PG) and Intel (INTC).

Crude oil prices dipped Friday on profit taking following large gains a day earlier. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery slipped $0.17 or 0.3 percent to $61.62 per barrel; for the week, crude surged 7.8 percent.