KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets were in a sea of red, with Bursa Malaysia following suit on Monday by fears that the deepening Turkey’s economic crisis could spill over into the global economy.
The benchmark FBM KLCI tumbled 22.41 points, or 1.24% to 1,783.340 in a sea of red. The move was the biggest since falling 1.58% on July 6. There were 764 losers against 213 gainers while 335 counters unchanged. About 2.06 million shares, valued at RM2.21bil, changed hands.
Dealers said the free fall in the Turkish lira has stoked fears of an economic fallout that could spill over into other emerging markets and the banking systems in Europe. They added that the overall sentiment appeared weak and selling pressure may continue.
Most of the KLCI-component stocks were traded lower today except for PPB group and Nestle. PPB rose six sen to RM16.84 while Nestle closed unchanged at RM147.80.
Shares of IHH Healthcare Bhd
and Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd (MAHB), which have operations in Turkey, took a hit over the crisis in the country.
MAHB had the biggest decline, decreasing 5.4%, or 53 sen to RM9.33 with 12 million shares done. IHH, which fell 30 sen to RM5.45 is one of the laggards on the KLCI component stocks, dragging the index down by 4.411 points.
Tenaga shed 22 sen to RM15.56, Digi fell 14 sen to RM4.56, Sime Plantations declined 16 sen to RM5.21 and Maxis fell 13 sen to RM5.66.
The ringgit depreciated 0.17% to 4.093 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, foreign tide into stocks listed on Bursa accelerated last week, marking the second straight week of inflows.
Overseas funds mopped up RM458.2mil net of local equities for the week ended August 10, higher than the RM348.9mil bought in the week before.
Year-to-date outflow from Malaysia has been reduced from RM8.45bil to RM8.00bil as of last Friday.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 2% to a five-week low as a sell-off in emerging market currencies spooked stock investors. The Nikkei share average dropped 440.65 points to 21,857.43, the lowest close since July 6.
South Korea’s Kospi ended down 34.34 points or 1.50% at 2,248.45.
The Hang Seng index ended 1.5% down at 27,936.57 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.4% to 3,390.34 points while the Shanghai Composite Index ended down 0.3% at 2,785.87 points.
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