The Malaysian stock market has finished higher now in three straight sessions, climbing more than 15 points or 1.2 percent in the process. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index moved above the 1,315-point plateau, and now investors are calling for another positive open when the market kicks off trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is generally favorable as investors begin to move away from safe haven gold and drive other commodity prices higher. Technology and steel stocks also are expected to provide support. The European and U.S. markets finished firmly in positive territory, and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The KLCI finished slightly higher on Thursday, nudged by slim upside from the financials, plantations and industrials.
For the day, the index was up 4.28 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 1,316.03 after trading between 1,312.95 and 1,317.05. Volume was 532.634 million shares worth 971.134 million ringgit. There were 365 gainers and 242 decliners, with 275 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, SAAG Consolidated, Maybank, Tenaga, Sime Darby and CIMB all finished higher, while Sunway REIT, Sinotop, PJI Holding, Maxis and IOI Corp all ended lower.
Wall Street offers a positive lead as stocks extended their gains for a third day in a row on Thursday, as a sharper than expected decline in jobless claims drove buying interest in the face of a drop in consumer credit and the prospect of lackluster second quarter earnings. The major averages ended firmly higher, moving further off of last Friday's multi-month closing lows.
The markets rose at the opening bell as the Labor Department reported that first time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 454,000 in the week ended July 3rd from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 475,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to fall to 460,000 from the 472,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to an eight-week low, although they remain at a relatively elevated level well above 400,000.
However, stocks pulled back in mid-day trading amid some caution ahead of the earnings season, as analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded her earnings forecasts for Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS).
Late in the session, the Federal Reserve said that consumer credit fell by $9.1 billion in May following a revised decrease of $14.9 billion in April. Economists had expected credit to slip by $3.0 billion compared to the $1.0 billion increase originally reported for the previous month.
In other news, June comparable store sales were mixed. While sales largely showed growth, some increases were far more tepid than analysts had forecast.
The major averages all saw upside in late-day trading, ending near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 120.71 points or 1.2 percent to 10,138.99, the NASDAQ rose 15.93 points or 0.7 percent to 2,175.40 and the S&P 500 advanced 9.98 points or 0.9 percent to 1,070.25.
In economic news, the Malaysian central bank increased its key policy rate for the third time this year as the domestic economy is expected to remain strong, along with moderate inflation levels for the rest of this year.
During its monetary policy meeting on Thursday, Bank Negara Malaysia raised the overnight policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent. Economists were expecting the central bank to raise rates this time. The floor and ceiling rates of the corridor for the OPR were correspondingly raised to 2.5 percent and 3 percent respectively.
Also, Malaysia's industrial production increased at a faster pace in May, driven by higher output by the manufacturing and electricity sectors, the Department of Statistics said Thursday. Production grew 12.5 percent year-on-year in May, faster than the upwardly revised 10.7 percent increase in April, while economists were expecting 10.2 percent growth. The preliminary estimates for April had shown 10.1 percent growth for April.
Month-on-month, production increased 3.3 percent. Cumulatively, the index rose 11.3 percent during January to May compared to the same period of last year. In May, manufacturing output increased 18.7 percent annually, faster than the revised 15.1 percent increase in April.
The manufacturing growth was mainly influenced by higher production of electrical and electronics products, which was up 33.4 percent annually. Production of non-metallic and mineral products as well as basic metal and fabricated metal products climbed 29.1 percent during the month. Compared to April, manufacturing output increased 3.8 percent in May.
Finally, Fitch ratings maintained Malaysia's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating, or IDR, at 'A-' with a stable outlook on Thursday, while cautioning that the country's weak fiscal position will continue to weigh on the ratings.
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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.