Malaysia Bourse: Profit Taking Likely Ahead Of New Year

(RTTNews) - The Malaysia stock market has finished higher now in five straight sessions, advancing more than 60 points or 3.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index settled just above the 1,690-point plateau, although investors may finally lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to renewed downward pressure on the price of crude oil - while profit taking ahead of the year's end also is likely. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the plantation stocks and oil companies, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index added 7.78 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,693.14 after trading between 1,686.85 and 1,706.25. Volume was 1.77 billion shares worth 1.80 billion ringgit. There were 532 decliners and 390 gainers, with 326 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, CIMB Group collected 0.66 percent, while RHB Capital slipped 0.35 percent, IOI Corporation climbed 1.62 percent, Sime Darby spiked 2.22 percent, SapuraKencana Petroleum advanced 2.02 percent, Tenaga Nasional added 0.61 percent and Digi.com fell 0.37 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks moved lower on Wednesday as some traders locked in profits ahead of the impending New Year's holiday.

The Dow closed 117.24 points, or 0.66 percent, lower at 17,603.74, while the S&P 500 lost 15.01 points or 0.72 percent to 2,063.35 and the NASDAQ fell 42.09 points or 0.82 percent to end at 5,065.85.

Weighing on the markets, Nymex February crude oil plunged $1.27 or 3.4 percent to end at $36.60 a barrel.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index fell 0.9 percent in November, indicating the third decline in the last four months.

Closer to home, Malaysia will provide November data for producer prices later today; in October, producer prices were up 2.3 percent on month and down 2.6 percent on year.