Win Streak May Continue For Malaysia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 25 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,630-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology shares expected to lead the markets higher. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were modestly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index rose 6.03 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 1,630.60 after trading between 1,624.47 and 1,634.35. Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail advanced 1.19 percent, while AMMB Holdings jumped 2.33 percent, Axiata declined 1.53 percent, Celcomdigi expanded 1.80 percent, CIMB Group added 0.63 percent, Gamuda tanked 2.83 percent, IHH Healthcare shed 0.48 percent, IOI Corporation vaulted 1.99 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 0.52 percent, Maxis retreated 1.76 percent, Maybank surged 3.71 percent, MISC dropped 0.79 percent, MRDIY stumbled 3.07 percent, Nestle Malaysia skyrocketed 7.71 percent, Petronas Chemicals rallied 2.84 percent, Petronas Dagangan rose 0.29 percent, Petronas Gas improved 1.14 percent, PPB Group plummeted 4.54 percent, Press Metal sank 0.72 percent, Public Bank collected 1.15 percent, QL Resources spiked 2.96 percent, RHB Bank soared 2.98 percent, Sime Darby tumbled 2.02 percent, SD Guthrie climbed 1.53 percent, Sunway slumped 1.49 percent, Telekom Malaysia strengthened 1.72 percent, Tenaga Nasional plunged 4.35 percent, YTL Corporation fell 0.47 percent and YTL Power gained 0.61 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained in the green throughout the session, although it was a choppy day.

The Dow climbed 185.13 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 47,474.46, while the NASDAQ jumped 137.75 points or 0.59 percent to close at 23,413.67 and the S&P 500 added 16.74 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,829.37.

The strength on Wall Street came amid a strong rebound by Bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency soared by more than 6 percent after moving sharply lower on Monday. Bitcoin's rally along with an advance by AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) may have been an indication of renewed risk appetite.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the markets higher, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 1.8 percent. Considerable strength was also visible among computer stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Crude oil prices gave ground on Tuesday as efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict have sent positive signals of a ceasefire sooner than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.55 or 0.93 percent at $58.77 per barrel.