August 18th, 2008 | by admin |
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks areexpected to drift lower on Monday, hit by falling crude palmoil prices and domestic political uncertainties.
Planters IOI Corp (IOIB.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Sime Darby (SIME.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) arelikely to slip after palm oil futures fell to an 11-1/2-monthlow on Friday as sagging crude knocked down vegetable oilmarkets.
Shares of flag carrier Malaysian Airline System (MASM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)and MISC (MISC.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's largest carrier of liquefiednatural gas, are also in focus ahead of the release of thefirms' quarterly earnings on Monday.
The broader market was likely to extend Friday's decline.
"Commodities prices are coming off and that should impactthe key index a bit," said a dealer with a local bank.
"The by-election is not over so people are stillsidelined," she said, referring to opposition figure AnwarIbrahim's bid for a parliamentary seat in a northern state,which he hopes will pave the way for the opposition to seizepower.
The by-election will take place on Aug. 26.
The stock market's benchmark index .KLSE slid 1.3 percentto 1,095.05 points on Friday, in line with a fall in most otherregional markets.
The research chief of a local bank said the index waslikely to ease a further 10 points on Monday.
The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday, as sinking commodityprices raised hopes of a consumer spending recovery, helpingpush shares of retailers higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 0.38 percentto 11,659.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained0.41 percent to 1,298.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXICslipped 0.05 percent to 2,452.52.
Here are news stories and factors that may affect theMalaysian stock market on Monday. --------------------MARKETSNAPSHOT @ 23:53 GMT-----------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NETCHG S&P 500 .SPX 1,298.20 0.41% 5.270 USD/JPY <JPY=> 110.32 -0.17% -0.190 10-YR US TSY YLD <US10YT=RR> 3.844 -- -0.004 SPOT GOLD <XAU=> $790.30 0.61%
4.800 US CRUDE CLc1 $114.10 0.29%
0.330 DOW JONES .DJI 11659.90 0.38%
43.97 ASIA ADRS .BKAS 137.18 -0.72%
-1.00---------------------------------------------------------------- -> Palm oil sinks to 11-½ mth lows on defaults [ID:nKLR14924] > Malaysia's Cagamas sells 2 bln rgt Islamicbonds [ID:nKLR88830] > Malaysia Anwar bids for seat, battlelines drawn[ID:nKLR184293] > SE Asian Stocks-Lower as oilslips, Vietnam at mth-high [.SO] > US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 riseas lower oil lifts retailers [.N] > Oil falls below $114 onglobal demand worries [O/R] > FOREX-Dollar posts 5thweekly gain versus euro [USD/] > TREASURIES-Yields at1-mo low as inflation fears recede [US/] > Gold falls below$800 for first time since Dec [GOL/] (Reporting by Liau Y-Sing; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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