The Malaysia stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 40 points or 2.4 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,650-point plateau and its likely to see little movement on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key inflation data later in the day. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses among the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.
For the day, the index stumbled 21.69 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 1,653.55 after trading between 1,651.73 and 1,684.68.
Among the actives, Axiata surged 3.25 percent, while Celcomdigi spiked 2.13 percent, CIMB Group plummeted 4.53 percent, Genting surrendered 2.93 percent, Genting Malaysia declined 1.95 percent, IHH Healthcare slipped 0.32 percent, IOI Corporation was down 0.25 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.18 percent, Maxis advanced 0.78 percent, Maybank weakened 1.66 percent, MISC skidded 1.63 percent, MRDIY slumped 1.84 percent, Petronas Chemicals plunged 3.45 percent, PPB Group dropped 1.10 percent, Press Metal added 0.39 percent, Public Bank retreated 2.08 percent, QL Resources lost 0.46 percent, RHB Capital shed 0.81 percent, Sime Darby slid 0.41 percent, SD Guthrie dipped 0.22 percent, Sunway rallied 2.05 percent, Telekom Malaysia sank 1.03 percent, Tenaga Nasional fell 0.43 percent, YTL Corporation tanked 3.17 percent and YTL Power tumbled 2.92 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and spent much of the day solidly in the green - before a late slump saw them end mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 243.63 points or 0.59 percent to finish at a record 41,335.05, while the NASDAQ sank 39.60 points or 0.23 percent to close at 17,516.43 and the S&P 500 eased 0.22 points or 0.00 percent to end at 5,591.96.
The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing the U.S. economy unexpectedly grew more than previously estimated in the second quarter.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week.
Buying interest waned in the latter part of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched readings on consumer price inflation later today.
The downturn by the tech-heavy NASDAQ also came as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) slumped even though the company reported Q2 results that exceeded expectations and forecast fiscal third quarter revenues above estimates.
Oil prices settled sharply higher on Thursday on supply concerns amid reports Libya has shut off production and halted exports at several ports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October climbed $1.39 or 1.87 percent at $75.91 a barrel.