US/MALAYSIA MARKET MORNING QUOTES

MALAYSIA MARKET

Malaysian stocks seen lower on global recession fears

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks are likely to ease on Monday, tracking Wall Street lower on concerns of a deepening global downturn.

 "Our market is eyeing the U.S. markets, and with not very encouraging reports from there, we are likely to see some downward pressure," said dealer at a local brokerage.

 Wall Street is likely to struggle to avoid a third straight week of losses this week as investors face another flood of earnings and data which are likely to signal a prolonged economic slowdown.

 Dealers said weak earnings reported by major companies, including top lenders Maybank and Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings was also weighing on market sentiment.

 "The corporate results have not been good, and have failed to provide any push to the market as such," said another dealer.

US MARKET

Wall Street Ends Turbulent Week Sharply Lower

Wall Street ended a turbulent week with another astonishing show of volatility Friday, with stocks plunging, recovering and then plunging again as investors absorbed another wave of downbeat economic news. The Dow Jones industrials fell almost 340 points and the major indexes all fell sharply for the second straight week.

Analysts believe the market is still searching for a bottom after last month's huge losses, and that the pattern of volatility will continue for some time — selling, even on technical reasons like looming deadlines for cashing out hedge fund holdings, is still coming against a backdrop of an extremely weak economy.

The session saw another stream of bad news. Bernanke said during a speech in Frankfurt, Germany, that he would work closely with other central banks to try to alleviate the global financial crisis and left open the door to a fresh interest rate cut. The Fed is scheduled to meet Dec. 16 at its last regularly scheduled meeting this year.

While Wall Street would like to see another rate cut, many investors aren't sure, given the litany of bad economic and corporate news, of how effective a rate reduction would be in the near term. Many investors are still trying to assimilate the idea that the economy's downturn will be protracted, lasting well into next year and perhaps longer.

The great fear on the Street is that Americans' reluctance to spend will extend what is already a serious economic downturn. A barrage of negative consumer news sent stocks tumbling earlier in the week.

The Dow fell 337.93, or 3.82 percent, to 8,497.31, at its lows of the day. The Dow fell more than 300 in early trading, recovered to a slim advance and then turned sharply lower at the end of the day as hedge funds cashed out. Fund investors had a Nov. 15 deadline for withdrawing their money, which forced the funds in turn to sell stocks.

Bernie McGinn, chief executive of McGinn Investment Management, said the market needs to have a sustained rally for a couple of days to lure buyers back into the market. For the moment, he believes the market will continue to fluctuate based on events like earnings or government reports.

"We're in the middle of chaos," he said. "That's what it is, pure and simple."