The Malaysian stock market has finished lower now in back-to-back sessions, declining 20 points or 1.6 percent en route to a three-month closing low. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index crashed through support at 1,250 points, but now investors are looking forward to a modest rebound at the opening of trade on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic after many of the bourses suffered brutal losses at the end of last week. Firmer commodity prices - especially gold and oil - will provide support, along with technology, airline and financial stocks. The European markets ended sharply lower, while the U.S. bourses tracked slightly higher - and now the Asian markets are also predicted to move to the upside.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Friday, in line with other regional declined. Financials stocks took heavy losses, while the industrial issues and plantations also ended significantly lower.
For the day, the index was down 17.13 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 1,247.90 after trading between 1,247.46 and 1,253.00. Volume was 918.215 million shares worth 1.522 billion ringgit. There were 587 decliners and 162 gainers, with 180 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Sime Darby, Maybank, CIMB Group, Maxis and Genting all finished lower, while Talam Corporation was unchanged and LCL Corporation, Petra Perdana and KNM Group all ended higher.
The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as stocks were able to advance by modest margins on Friday after a significantly volatile session. The major averages closed in positive territory after spending most of the day in the red.
Stocks plunged in the early afternoon on concerns about the labor market, but the major averages staged a strong recovery amid speculation the European Union would concoct a solution to Greece's debt problems.
The recovery was also spurred by a report from the Federal Reserve showing that the contraction in consumer credit markets slowed by much more than expected. Consumer credit fell by $1.73 billion in December after a revised $21.8 billion decline in November. Economists had been expecting credit to decrease by a much more substantial $10.0 billion compared to the $17.5 billion decrease originally reported for the previous month.
Stocks saw some weakness after the Labor Department reported that non-farm payroll employment declined by 20,000 jobs in January following a revised decrease of 150,000 jobs in December. Economists had forecast employment to edge up by 15,000 jobs compared to the loss of 85,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The Labor Department report also said that the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.7 percent in January from 10.0 percent in December. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 10.0 percent.
Trucking company Con-way Inc. (CNW) reported a fourth quarter loss that narrowed from last year and saw revenues that came in ahead of Street estimates.
Meat products producer Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) recorded a first-quarter profit and revenues that topped expectations, while Aetna (AET) failed to meet fourth-quarter profit forecasts amid growing medical costs but beat projections on the revenue front.
The Dow gained 10.05 points or 0.1 percent to end at 10,012.23, the NASDAQ advanced by 15.69 points or 0.7 percent to 2,141.12 and the S&P 500 rose by 3.08 points or 0.3 percent to 1,066.19. Despite the recovery, the major averages fell for a fourth straight week due largely to the sell-off seen on Thursday. The Dow slipped by 0.5 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 declined by 0.3 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
In economic news, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said on Friday that the trade surplus stood at MYR 12.1 billion in December, up from MYR 8.88 billion in November. This was the 146th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997. Economists expected a trade surplus of MYR 9.35 billion for December.
Exports increased 9.2 percent month-on-month to MYR 54.67 billion in December from MYR 50.07 billion in November. This was the highest monthly exports for 2009. At the same time, imports climbed 3.4 percent to MYR 42.58 billion.
On an annual basis, exports increased 18.7 percent in December, compared to the 3.3 percent fall in the previous month. Economists were looking for an increase of 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, imports grew 23.3 percent in December, faster than the 2.3 percent increase in November. Economists expected an increase of 21.5 percent.
In the fourth quarter, exports grew 10.6 percent sequentially to MYR 159 billion, while imports rose 8 percent to MYR126.55 billion. Year-on-year, exports and imports increased by 5.1 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.
Also, Malaysia's international reserves increased to US$96.9 billion as on January 29 from US$96.7 billion as on January 15, the Bank Negara Malaysia said on Friday.
At the same time, foreign currency reserves rose to US$87.8 billion from US$86.5 billion, while other reserve assets edged down to US$5.3 billion from $6.4 billion.
Gold reserves and Special Drawing Rights stood at US$1.3 billion and US$2.1 billion, respectively, unchanged from the preceding period.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.