The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 8 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,670-point plateau and it may continue to spin its wheels again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key U.S. unemployment data on Friday. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, plantation stocks and telecoms.
For the day, the index shed 6.41 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 1,670.24 after trading between 1,662.22 and 1,675.53.
Among the actives, Axiata slipped 0.40 percent, while Celcomdigi advanced 0.81 percent, CIMB Group was down 0.48 percent, Genting skidded 1.16 percent, Genting Malaysia slumped 1.19 percent, IHH Healthcare rose 0.16 percent, IOI Corporation lost 0.77 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slid 0.56 percent, Maxis dipped 0.52 percent, Maybank rallied 0.93 percent, MISC tumbled 1.43 percent, MRDIY sank 0.97 percent, Petronas Chemicals plummeted 2.14 percent, PPB Group dropped 1.11 percent, Press Metal declined 1.23 percent, Public Bank shed 0.83 percent, QL Resources surrendered 1.37 percent, RHB Capital fell 0.66 percent, SD Guthrie climbed 1.09 percent, Sunway plunged 1.67 percent, Telekom Malaysia eased 0.30 percent, YTL Corporation retreated 1.32 percent, YTL Power tanked 1.52 percent and Sime Darby and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday, hugged the line for most of the day and finished mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 38.04 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 40,974.97, while the NASDAQ lost 52.00 points or 0.30 percent to close at 17,084.30 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.86 points or 0.16 percent to end at 5,520.07.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following the substantial volatility seen over the past couple months.
Stocks have shown a substantial rebound or late, but are hampered by lingering concerns about the outlook for the economy.
Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday amid rising concerns about the outlook for demand following reports that OPEC is planning to restore 180,000 barrels per day of voluntary production cuts beginning next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $1.14 or 1.6 percent at 69.20 a barrel, a nine-month low.
Closer to home, the central bank in Malaysia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the central bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 3.00 percent.