Malaysia Stock Market Likely To Crack Resistance At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) – The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just shy of the 1,600-point plateau and it’s expected to open to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved 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 financial shares and mixed performances from the telecoms and plantations.

For the day, the index rose 4.60 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 1,597.47 after trading between 1,593.42 and 1,603.19.

Among the actives, 99 Speed Mart Retail lost 0.40 percent, while AMMB Holdings fell 0.18 percent, Axiata climbed 0.78 percent, Celcomdigi rallied 1.93 percent, CIMB Group and MISC both perked 0.13 percent, IHH Healthcare added 0.44 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong accelerated 2.06 percent, Maxis surged 4.07 percent, Maybank gained 0.20 percent, Nestle Malaysia dropped 0.93 percent, Petronas Chemicals jumped 1.26 percent, Petronas Dagangan rose 0.18 percent, Petronas Gas increased 0.53 percent, PPB Group soared 3.10 percent, Press Metal spiked 2.36 percent, Public Bank collected 0.45 percent, QL Resources strengthened 1.21 percent, RHB Bank improved 0.62 percent, Sime Darby tumbled 1.76 percent, SD Guthrie slumped 1.18 percent, Sunway advanced 0.63 percent, Telekom Malaysia shed 0.56 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.59 percent, YTL Corporation skidded 1.11 percent and YTL Power, Gamuda, IOI Corporation, MRDIY and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday and continued to trend upward as the day continued, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 846.24 points or 1.89 percent to finish at 45,631.74, while the NASDAQ rallied 396.23 points or 1.88 percent to end at 21,496.54 and the S&P 500 jumped 96.74 points or 1.52 percent to close at 6,466.91.

For the week, the Dow spiked 1.5 percent, the NASDAQ slipped 0.6 percent and the S&P rose 0.3 percent.

The rally on Wall Street came in reaction to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated speech before the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

While Powell touched only briefly on the outlook for monetary policy, his remarks have increased investor confidence that the Fed will lower interest rates next month.

Following Powell’s remarks, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool jumped to indicate an 83.1 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point next month, up from 75.0 percent a day earlier.

Crude oil prices rose modestly on Friday as expectations of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal waned with no progress. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.13 pr 0.20 percent at $63.65 per barrel.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.