The Malaysia stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 10 points or 0.7 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,620-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with bargain hunting among the technology stocks expected to fuel the rally. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the telecoms and financials.
For the day, the index dropped 14.48 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 1,622.07 after trading between 1,616.74 and 1,637.12.
Among the actives, Axiata plummeted 3.80 percent, while Celcomdigi dipped 0.27 percent, CIMB Group slid 0.42 percent, Genting retreated 1.66 percent, Genting Malaysia tumbled 1.91 percent, IHH Healthcare skidded 1.11 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.26 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Nestle both lost 0.65 percent, Maxis surrendered 2.75 percent, Maybank gave away 0.40 percent, MRDIY plunged 2.80 percent, Petronas Chemicals sank 0.99 percent, PPB Group slumped 1.33 percent, Press Metal and MISC both declined 1.62 percent, Public Bank weakened 1.18 percent, QL Resources fell 0.60 percent, RHB Capital eased 0.18 percent, Sime Darby slipped 0.38 percent, SD Guthrie shed 0.67 percent, Sunway rose 0.24 percent, Telekom Malaysia stumbled 1.40 percent, YTL Corporation tanked 2.79 percent, YTL Power dropped 1.04 percent and Tenaga Nasional and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher and mostly stayed that way throughout the trading day.
The Dow climbed 127.91 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 40,415.44, while the NASDAQ surged 280.63 points or 1.58 percent to end at 18,007.57 and the S&P 500 rallied 59.41 points or 1.08 percent to close at 5,564.41.
The strength on Wall Street came as tech stocks regained ground following the steep drop seen last week, which saw the NASDAQ plunge by 3.7 percent. AI darling and tech sector leader Nvidia (NVDA) led the rebound, spiking 4.8 percent.
The advance by Nvidia also lent considerable strength to the semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring 4.0 percent after ending last week at its lowest closing level in over a month.
Stocks also moved higher after President Joe Biden announced his decision to drop out of the presidential race and endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris.
Crude oil futures eased on Monday, declining for the third consecutive session on concerns about the outlook for oil demand and renewed hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.35 or at $79.78 a barrel.