Malaysia Stock Market Tipped To Extend Winning Streak

The Malaysia stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,510-point plateau and it's looking at another green light again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher amidst bargain hunting. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished modestly higher on Friday as more huge gains from the rubber glove makers were capped by weakness from the plantations and telecoms, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 8.34 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 1,509.14 after trading between 1,505.05 and 1,516.00. Volume was 5.172 billion shares worth 3.959 billion ringgit. There were 572 gainers and 446 decliners.

Among the actives, Hartalega Holdings surged 6.92 percent, while Press Metal soared 3.70 percent, Malaysia Airports Holdings plummeted 3.17 percent, Petronas Chemicals spiked 3.00 percent, Top Glove accelerated 2.92 percent, PPB Group plunged 2.54 percent, Sime Darby jumped 2.13 percent, Dialog Group tanked 1.06 percent, MISC tumbled 0.81 percent, IOI Corporation and Axiata both skidded 0.67 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong retreated 0.61 percent, Sime Darby Plantations declined 0.59 percent, Tenaga Nasional climbed 0.55 percent, Public Bank surrendered 0.52 percent, Genting Malaysia sank 0.47 percent, IHH Healthcare dropped 0.38 percent, AMMB Holdings shed 0.34 percent, CIMB Group collected 0.33 percent, Genting lost 0.30 percent, Digi.com fell 0.25 percent, RHB Capital advanced 0.22 percent, Maxis added 0.20 percent, Maybank dipped 0.14 percent and Hap Seng Consolidated was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks showed a lack of direction early Friday but surged in the afternoon to finish solidly higher.

The Dow jumped 358.56 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 27,173.96, while the NASDAQ spiked 241.26 points or 2.26 percent to end at 10,913.56 and the S&P 500 climbed 51.87 points or 1.60 percent to close at 3,298.46. For the week, the Dow fell 1.7 percent, the NASDAQ rose 1.1 percent and the S&P was down 0.6 percent.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as technology stocks moved higher, rebounding from recent weakness. Big-name tech stocks like Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) posted significant gains on the day.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington amid reports House Democrats plan to unveil a new $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief bill. The price tag for the bill is $1 trillion less than a stimulus package the House passed back in May but may still be too high for Republicans.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a much smaller than expected increase in durable goods orders in August.

Crude oil prices eased on Friday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to rising coronavirus cases and fresh lockdown measures. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.06 or 0.2 percent at $40.25 a barrel. WTI Crude oil futures shed 2.6 percent for the week.