The Malaysia stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the four-day winning streak in which it had added more than 40 points or 2.3 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index settled just above the 1,715-point plateau, and the market may taste continued weakness at the open on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets remains soft thanks to the weekend's referendum results in Greece - although bargain hunting may provide a lift later in the day. The European and U.S. markets were down on Monday and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, plantation stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index slipped 17.19 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 1,717.05 after trading between 1,706.60 and 1,728.43. There were 646 decliners and 158 gainers.
Among the actives, MISC, Maybank, RHB Capital, Hong Leong Bank, CIMB Group, PPB Group, Sime Darby, IOI Corporation, Petronas Dagangan, Petronas Gas, Petronas Chemicals, Tenaga Nasional, Maxis and Axiata all ended lower. The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks moved lower on Monday in a kneejerk response to the Greek vote. During the session, the Dow hit its lowest intraday level in five months. The Dow dipped 46.53 points or 0.3 percent to 17,683.58, while the NASDAQ slid 17.27 points or 0.3 percent to 4,991.94 and the S&P 500 fell 8.02 points or 0.4 percent to 2,068.76. The weakness followed news that the Greek people voted to reject the austerity measures proposed by the country's international creditors. The "no" vote on the referendum has added to recent concerns about Greece leaving the eurozone. European officials said they respect the Greek voters' decision but argued that it is now up to the Greek government to come up with a new proposal. On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management reported that activity in the service sector expanded at a modestly faster rate in June.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.