The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, slipping almost 25 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,650-point plateau and it may continue to spin its wheels again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the health of the worlds economy. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the industrials, financial shares and telecoms, while the plantation stocks came in mixed.
For the day, the index shed 11.70 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 1,653.12 after trading between 1,648.42 and 1,671.83.
Among the actives, Axiata tumbled 2.01 percent, while Celcomdigi surrendered 1.61 percent, CIMB Group dropped 0.73 percent, Genting retreated 1.41 percent, IHH Healthcare rallied 2.48 percent, IOI Corporation climbed 1.02 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 0.19 percent, Maxis skidded 0.78 percent, MISC tanked 4.35 percent, MRDIY added 0.49 percent, Petronas Chemicals slid 0.36 percent, PPB Group lost 0.56 percent, Press Metal declined 1.23 percent, QL Resources advanced 0.75 percent, Sime Darby fell 0.41 percent, SD Guthrie rose 0.22 percent, Sunway stumbled 1.50 percent, Telekom Malaysia shed 0.59 percent, Tenaga Nasional sank 0.67 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 7.78 percent, YTL Power plunged 4.61 percent and Genting Malaysia, Maybank, RHB Capital and Public Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day under water, finishing with heavy losses.
The Dow stumbled 410.39 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 40,345.41, while the NASDAQ plunged 436.87 points or 2.55 percent to close at 16,690.83 and the S&P 500 sank 94.99 points or 1.73 percent to end at 5,408.42.
For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.8 percent, the Dow tanked 2.9 percent and the S&P tumbled 4.3 percent.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy after the Labor Department released a closely watched report showing employment rose by less than expected in the month of August.
While the data is seen as increasing the chances of a 50-basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month, traders seemed worried the central bank may have waited too long to prevent the economy from slipping into a recession.
Oil prices fell to an 18-month low on Friday, weighed down persisting concerns about the outlook for oil demand following the disappointing jobs report. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $1.48 or 2.1 percent at $67.67 a barrel.
Closer to home, Malaysia will provide July figures for unemployment later today, with forecasts calling the jobless rate unchanged at 3.3 percent.