KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 30): Investors may today evaluate the sustainability of the FBM KLCI's gain after the index rose 16.6 points to close at its intraday high yesterday. 

Today, investors may assess the sustainability of Malaysian stock gains against the local economic, corporate and political landscape as they look ahead to the country's 2017 fourth-quarter and full-year gross domestic product numbers announcement on Feb 15, 2018. As the corporate financial reporting season here starts in earnest in Feb, investors may also base their decisions on the timing of the 14th Malaysian general election in 2018.
 
Yesterday, the KLCI rose 16.6 points to close at 1,870.52 points. The ringgit was last traded at 3.8815 against a stronger US dollar. 

Reuters reported that the US dollar rose on Monday against a basket of currencies as US bond yields climbed to their highest since 2014 and traders waited for a Federal Reserve meeting and a US jobs report later in the week, while the euro and pound were both down. 

It was reported that Wall Street pulled back from record highs on Monday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 indexes marking their biggest one-day percentage declines in about five months, weighed down by a slide in Apple shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 177.23 points or 0.67% to 26,439.48, the S&P 500 lost 19.34 points or 0.67% to 2,853.53 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 39.27 points or 0.52% to 7,466.51.

In Malaysia, markets will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan 31) and on Thursday (Feb 1) for the Thaipusam and Federal Territory Day holidays respectively. Trading resumes on Friday (Feb 2).