Asian markets taking a breather (ext: Edge)

The pause on Wall Street could see key Asian markets taking a breather on Tuesday, Aug 25 while at Bursa Malaysia, more newsflow would determine investors' sentiment, especially with Maybank scheduled to release its full year results today.

On Monday, Asian markets closed sharply higher as sentiment was boosted by the firmer close on Wall Street the previous Friday and that China's banks could expand their lending.

Standard Chartered Global Research said Chinese lending may grow in August, soothing concerns over a possible tightening up of the Chinese economy.

However, analysts say the market has entered a corrective phase, as individual stocks will largely depend on positive newsflow for any significant appreciation.

Maybank Investment Bank's head of retail research and chief chartist Lee Cheng Hooi says he is expecting greater volatility in the market going forward.

"We think that after August, volatility could be magnified in September and October which are traditionally turbulent months in most equity markets, especially the US," he said.

The coupling of Bursa's fortunes to the regional bourses and Wall Street means that local investors can expect the trends to remain tempestuous.