The Malaysia stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had given away more than 35 points or 2.2 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,700-point plateau, and now the market is tipped to add to its winnings on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to a recovery among the Chinese markets, as well as optimism that an accord may be reached in the Greek debt situation. The European and U.S. markets finished higher, and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following mild upside from the financial shares, plantation stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index collected 5.71 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 1,701.54 after trading between 1,685.03 and 1,704.88. Volume was 1.82 billion shares worth 1.83 billion ringgit. There were 556 gainers and 270 decliners, with 289 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, MISC, Maxis and Maybank all moved higher, while Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional ended lower.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks opened sharply higher and then remained in the green on Thursday, recovering from the sell-off in the previous sessions.
The Dow crept up 33.20 points or 0.2 percent to 17,548.62, while the NASDAQ rose 12.64 points or 0.3 percent to 4,922.40 and the S&P 500 edged up 4.63 points or 0.2 percent to 2,051.31.
The initial strength followed a substantial rebound by Chinese stocks with the Shanghai Composite Index surging 5.8 percent as authorities unveiled fresh support measures.
Early buying interest was also generated by optimism about a deal between Greece and its creditors after the debt-laden nation promised to implement pension and tax reforms to win fresh aid.
However, the positive sentiment was tempered by news that the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for global economic growth in 2015.
Closer to home, Malaysia will provide May numbers for manufacturing and industrial production later today. In April, manufacturing production dipped 1.0 percent on month and gained 4.1 percent on year. Industrial output was down 0.4 percent on month in April and up 4.0 percent on year.
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