The Malaysia stock market has moved lower in five straight sessions, slipping almost 30 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just beneath the 1,620-point plateau and its expected to open under water again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and fairly flat and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financial hare, industrials and telecoms were mitigated slightly by support from the plantations.
For the day, the index dropped 13.93 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 1,618.30 after trading between 1,617.60 and 1,635.28.
Among the actives, Axiata stumbled 2.08 percent, while Celcomdigi surrendered 3.36 percent, CIMB Group eased 0.12 percent, Genting slumped 0.75 percent, Genting Malaysia dropped 0.44 percent, IHH Healthcare climbed 1.21 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong perked 0.09 percent, Maxis tanked 3.42 percent, Maybank shed 0.38 percent, MISC retreated 1.71 percent, PPB Group fell 0.28 percent, Press Metal slid 0.21 percent, Public Bank tumbled 2.43 percent, QL Resources sank 0.42 percent, RHB Bank skidded 0.62 percent, Sime Darby declined 1.67 percent, SD Guthrie added 1.21 percent, Telekom Malaysia lost 0.31 percent, Tenaga Nasional rose 0.14 percent, YTL Corporation plummeted 7.51 percent, YTL Power plunged 6.83 percent and IOI Corporation, MRDIY, Petronas Chemicals, Sunway and Hong Leong Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street again offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but slumped as the day progressed to end mixed.
The Dow stumbled 259.96 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 42,114.40, while the NASDAQ added 103.12 points or 0.56 percent to close at 18,518.61 and the S&P 500 eased 1.74 points or 0.03 percent to end at 5,808.12.
For the week, the Dow tumbled 2.7 percent and the S&P 500 slumped 1.0 percent, but the NASDAQ rose 0.2 percent.
Stocks moved mostly higher early in the session amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for the economy after the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment unexpectedly improved in October.
Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as treasury yields rebounded following Thursdays pullback amid lingering concerns the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates slower than previously anticipated.
Oil prices rose sharply on Friday amid worries about geopolitical tensions and for potential output adjustments from OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed up $1.69 or 2.3 percent at $71.78 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 3.8 percent in the week.