(RTTNews) - The Malaysian stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had lost nearly 20 points or 1.5 percent in the process. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index remains above support at the 1,240-point plateau, and now analysts are predicting another day of limited range in Wednesday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly flat with a touch of upside, drawing support from commodities after a fresh record high for gold was reached. Technology stocks and properties also are likely to move higher. The European markets finished sharply lower and the U.S. bourses ended mixed but little changed - and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The KLCI finished flat on Tuesday as gains among the financials and the industrials were wiped out by selling among the plantation stocks.

For the day, the index was up 0.56 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,242.32. Volume was 1.296 billion shares worth 1.343 billion ringgit. There were 389 decliners and 261 gainers, with 242 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, CIMB, Compugates, Sime Darby and Maybank all finished higher, while Time Engineering and Tenaga ended lower.

Wall Street provides little guidance as stocks saw a choppy trading session on Tuesday, despite some signs of life on the M&A front and positive news on factory orders. The major averages closed on opposite sides of the unchanged mark as some traders preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the release of key economic reports in the second half of the week.

In M&A news, Berkshire Hathaway entered an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe it does not already own for $100 per share. The transaction is valued at approximately $44 billion and is the largest ever made by Warren Buffet’s firm.

Further, power tool maker Stanley Works and Black & Decker Corp. said that they have entered into a merger agreement to create Stanley Black & Decker, an $8.4 billion global industrial leader, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $4.5 billion.

Amid a relatively light day on the economic front, the Commerce Department reported that orders for manufactured goods increased by a little more than expected in the month of September.

Factory orders increased by 0.9 percent in September following an unrevised 0.8 percent decrease in August. The increase in orders came in slightly above economist estimates for an increase of about 0.8 percent.

The major averages continued their sideways movement in late day trading, finishing on a mixed note. While the Dow fell by 17.53 points or 0.2 percent to 9,771.91, the NASDAQ closed up 8.12 points or 0.4 percent at 2,057.32 and the S&P 500 rose by 2.53 points or 0.2 percent to 1,045.41.

In economic news, Malaysia will on Wednesday provide September numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are seen lower by 17.2 percent on year following the 18.6 percent annual contraction in August. Exports are tipped to fall an annual 21 percent after the 19.8 percent decline on year in the previous month. The trade balance is forecast to show a surplus of 9.7 billion ringgit after the 9.57 billion ringgit surplus a month earlier.

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Posted in Categories: Eurozone, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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