Additional Support Tipped For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,575-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on firm economic data from the United States. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the glove makers and telecoms were offset by weakness from the financials and entertainment stocks.

For the day, the index rose 1.74 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 1,577.12 after trading between 1,568.98 and 1,579.01. Volume was 7.718 billion shares worth 5.023 billion ringgit. There were 707 gainers and 390 decliners.

Among the actives, Genting plummeted 6.05 percent, while IHH Healthcare surged 3.91 percent, Genting Malaysia plunged 3.48 percent, Top Glove soared 3.17 percent, Hartalega Holdings spiked 3.14 percent, Petronas Gas accelerated 2.81 percent, Malaysia Airports Holdings tanked 2.59 percent, IOI Corporation tumbled 1.77 percent, RHB Capital skidded 1.64 percent,Digi.com retreated 1.19 percent, Maybank declined 1.18 percent, Public Bank surrendered 1.03 percent, AMMB Holdings sank 1.00 percent, Sime Darby Plantations jumped 1.00 percent, CIMB Group dropped 0.87 percent, Petronas Chemicals shed 0.81 percent, MISC lost 0.64 percent, Dialog Group advanced 0.53 percent, Sime Darby fell 0.46 percent, Maxis added 0.40 percent, Press Metal gained 0.39 percent, Axiata rose 0.32 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong increased 0.27 percent, PPB Group was up 0.10 percent and Tenaga Nasional was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks spent most of Friday in the green, picking up steam as the day progressed.

The Dow jumped 190.60 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 27,930.33, while the NASDAQ added 46.85 points or 0.42 percent to end at 11,311.80 and the S&P 500 rose 11.65 points or 0.34 percent to close at 3,397.16. For the week, the Dow was flat, the NASDAQ soared 2.7 percent and the S&P gained 0.7 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came after IHS Markit said U.S. business activity expanded at the fastest pace in over a year in August. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales in the U.S. continued to soar in July.

Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks. Apple (AAPL) helped to lead the sector higher, with the tech giant surging 5.2 percent to a new record closing high.

Oil prices tumbled on Friday as the latest Euro zone flash purchasing managers' index for August dented hopes of a V-shaped recovery from the bloc's deepest economic downturn on record. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 46 cents or 1.08 percent at $42.27.