KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are hopeful that a recent streak on the country's stock market will continue and help push the economy forward. It comes as recent gains on the exchange have given hope that an economic downturn that analysts said could be in the offing, may not come. “I think what we are seeing is a time of uncertainty on the markets, and we have to be careful to be too optimistic that it means the country will not hit a few bumps,” said Alan Dewarn, a economics researcher and independent analyst in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. He told Bikyamasr.com that “Malaysia has a strong economy, but all economies do go through ups and downs, so we just have to weather this.” Last Friday, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index finished just above the 1,585-point plateau. Among the actives, Maybank, CIMB Group, Petronas Chemicals, Ingenuity Solutions and Metronic Global all finished lower, while Sime Darby was unchanged and Trinity Corp ended higher. The lead from Wall Street offers mild support as stocks finished a choppy day of trading in positive territory on Friday, overcoming an early dip to end the session with modest gains. Shares dropped in early trading, threatening to continue a bout of profit taking that has marked most of the week. The morning slide came on the heels of disappointing new home sales data, which showed an unexpected decline for February. New home sales fell 1.6 percent in February, dropping to a pace of 313,000 homes. Prices were up, however, climbing 8.3 percent to $233,700. On the corporate scene, Darden Restaurants (DRI) said its quarterly profit rose 8 percent from last year. The bottom line at the owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurant chains was boosted by sales that climbed to $2.2 billion from about $2 billion last year. Micron Technology (MU) announced a loss for its latest quarter, reversing a profit posted in the same period last year. Sales and margins at the memory chip maker both deteriorated. Nike (NKE) revealed a quarterly profit that rose 7 percent from last year. The athletic shoe maker said its revenue jumped 15 percent to nearly $5.9 billion. IT services company Accenture (ACN) reported a stronger-than-expected rise in its quarterly profit. The company benefited from revenue growth across all operating groups. Accenture also raised its expectations for the full year. And Malaysians seem to be taking notice of the overall economic health of their country, in all sectors. Here in the capital's main streets, much of the talk has been on the future of the country's economy. Locals dust their hands in the air when asked if they believe the economic downturn forecasted will hit their livelihoods. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/UvSsz Tags: Economy, Malaysia, Stocks Section: Business, Latest News, Southeast Asia
