(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for Deepavali, the Malaysia stock market had moved lower in four straight sessions, slipping almost 20 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,445-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky ahead of a possible U.S. government shutdown. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the plantations stocks and mixed performances from the financials and telecoms.
For the day, the index sank 7.09 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 1,445.18 after trading between 1,425.01 and 1,451.22.
Among the actives, AMMB Holdings rallied 1.04 percent, while Axiata plummeted 2.04 percent, Celcomdigi declined 0.93 percent, CIMB Group sank 0.52 percent, Dialog Group lost 0.47 percent, Genting tumbled 1.66 percent, Genting Malaysia skidded 0.81 percent, IHH Healthcare slumped 0.84 percent, IOI Corporation shed 0.51 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong stumbled 0.91 percent, Maybank fell 0.44 percent, MRDIY plunged 1.89 percent, Petronas Chemicals eased 0.14 percent, PPB Group dropped 0.55 percent, Press Metal retreated 1.02 percent, Public Bank surrendered 1.19 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.18 percent, Sime Darby tanked 1.68 percent, Sime Darby Plantations slid 0.23 percent, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.19 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 0.20 percent, Westports Holdings surged 2.37 percent and Maxis, MISC and QL Resources were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened sharply lower on Monday before recovering to finish mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 54.77 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 34,337.87, while the NASDAQ slipped 30.36 points or 0.22 percent to close at 13,767.74 and the S&P 500 fell 3.69 points or 0.08 percent to end at 4,411.55.
The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on last week's rally, which lifted the tech-heavy NASDAQ to a nearly two-month closing high.
Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to news credit rating agency Moody's has lowered its outlook for the U.S. credit rating to negative from stable amid concerns about a possible government shutdown.
The selling pressure was offset by a New York Federal Reserve report showing a modest decrease in consumer inflation expectations, sparking optimism the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates.
Crude oil prices moved up on Monday, gaining for a third straight session amid some optimism about the outlook for energy demand, as well as a weaker dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $78.26 a barrel.
