BREAKING: Malaysia Stock Market May Extend Wednesday's Losses

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with optimism for a Covid-19 vaccine giving way to concerns about the surging virus. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials, mixed performances from the telecoms and glove makers and support from the plantations.

For the day, the index shed 5.40 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 1,604.75 after trading between 1,595.09 and 1,611.58. Volume was 14.414 billion shares worth 5.088 billion ringgit. There were 731 decliners and 473 gainers.

Among the actives, MISC plummeted 6.88 percent, while Dialog Group plunged 3.46 percent, Malaysia Airports Holdings tanked 3.45 percent, CIMB Group tumbled 2.11 percent, RHB Capital skidded 2.08 percent, Axiata surged 1.80 percent, Petronas Chemical soared 1.50 percent, Hartalega Holdings retreated 1.50 percent, Tenaga Nasional declined 1.40 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong spiked 1.39 percent, Maxis surrendered 1.35 percent, Digi.com gathered 1.23 percent, IOI Corporation perked 0.88 percent, Public Bank collected 0.85 percent, Maybank sank 0.84 percent, Genting dropped 0.48 percent, Genting Malaysia added 0.39 percent, IHH Healthcare gained 0.37 percent, PPB Group shed 0.21 percent, Sime Darby Plantations rose 0.19 percent, Press Metal increased 0.16 percent, Top Glove was up 0.14 percent and Petronas Dagangan, Sime Darby and AMMB Holding were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened higher on Wednesday but fell into the red as the day progressed and ended firmly under water.

The late-day sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed concerns about new restrictions and lockdowns as a result of the recent surge in coronavirus cases after data showed there were nearly 162,000 new cases and 1,707 deaths on Tuesday.The Dow dropped 344.93 points or 1.16 percent to finish at 29,438.42, while the NASDAQ sank 97.74 points or 0.82 percent to end at 11,801.60 and the S&P 500 lost 41.74 points or 1.16 percent to close at 3,567.79.

Concerns about the economic impact of the lockdowns overshadowed upbeat news regarding the coronavirus vaccine candidate being developed by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX). The companies plan to submit a request to the FDA for an Emergency Use Authorization for the vaccine "within days."

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday amid expectations that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will extend its current production cuts further into 2021. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December were up $0.39 or 0.9 percent to settle at $41.82 a barrel.