(RTTNews) - The Malaysian stock market was up by less than a point on Thursday - but that was enough to extend its winning streak to three sessions, adding a dozen points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index remained above the 1,250-point plateau, and now analysts are predicting continued movement to the upside when the market opens for business on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive, sparked by better than expected economic data out of the United States. Steel and technology stocks are expected to provide support as a result, along with financials and property stocks. The European markets were modestly higher and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher - and the Asian markets are also tipped to move to the upside.

The KLCI finished flat on Thursday, as gains among the financial stocks were wiped out by selling in the industrial and plantation sectors.

For the day, the index was up 0.12 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,253.96 after trading between 1,252.62 and 1,253.96. Volume was 1.523 billion shares worth 1.405 billion ringgit. There were 382 decliners and 294 gainers, with 234 stocks finishing unchanged.

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

Wall Street offers a sparkling lead as stocks saw a significant rally on Thursday, with trader sentiment picking up following some upbeat figures on the labor market and quarterly productivity. The major averages all posted standout gains after ending each of the two previous sessions mixed, with the Dow climbing back above the 10,000 level.

Before the start of trading, the Labor Department released its report on initial jobless claims for the week ended October 31, showing that first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by more than economists had been anticipating. Jobless claims fell to 512,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 532,000.

Economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 522,000 from the 530,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since claims came in at 488,000 in early January, the last time claims were below 500,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that labor productivity increased by much more than expected in the third quarter, with the report also showing a bigger than expected decrease in labor costs.

Retail sales data for the month of October was also on traders’ radar, including a widely mixed batch of results from Saks (SKS), JC Penney (JCP), Target (TGT), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Aeropostale (ARO) and Gap (GPS).

On the earnings front, Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported first quarter adjusted net income of $0.36 per share compared to $0.42 per share a year ago, while sales for the quarter fell 12.7 percent to $9.0 billion. Analysts expected the company to earn $0.31 per share on sales of $8.74 billion.

The major averages remained firmly positive going into the close, ending the session just off their best levels of the day. The Dow closed up by 203.82 points or 2.1 percent at 10,005.96, the NASDAQ gained 49.80 points or 2.4 percent to end at 2,105.32 and the S&P 500 advanced by 20.13 points or 1.9 percent to 1,066.63.

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

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