Rally May Stall For Malaysia Stock Market

The Malaysia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,545-point plateau although it’s due for consolidation on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of inflation data that may affect the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The KLCI finished slightly higher again on Monday following gains from the financials and telecoms, while the plantations were mixed.

For the day, the index rose 4.85 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,544.71 after trading between 1,540.77 and 1,547.48.

Among the actives, AMMB Holdings plummeted 3.63 percent, while Axiata advanced 0.73 percent, Celcomdigi soared 1.90 percent, CIMB Group rose 0.30 percent, Genting surged 3.03 percent, Genting Malaysia added 0.69 percent, IHH Healthcare climbed0.83 percent, IOI Corporation sank 0.50 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gathered 0.27 percent, Maxis jumped 1.43 percent, Maybank improved 0.72 percent, Petronas Chemicals rallied 1.32 percent, PPB Group tumbled 1.17 percent, Press Metal spiked 1.76 percent, Public Bank collected 0.22 percent, QL Resources gained 0.67 percent, RHB Capital perked 0.18 percent, Sime Darby Plantations shed 0.46 percent, Telekom Malaysia was up 0.17 percent, Tenaga Nasional lost 0.35 percent, YTL Corporation increased 0.40 percent and YTL Power, MISC, MRDIY and Sime Darby were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow snuck barely above the line late in the day to finish slightly higher.

The Dow added 46.97 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 38,769.66, while the NASDAQ slumped 65.84 points or 0.41 percent to close at 16,019.27 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.75 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,117.94.

The weakness…