The key FBM KLCI fell briefly below the crucial 1,600 level in afternoon trade on Monday on mounting selling pressure in line with the key Asian markets.
KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets including Bursa Malaysia ended Wednesday in the red as investors worried about the outlook for the economy amid the US-China trade conflict.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 6.72 points or 0.4% to 1,688.27 but off the intra-day low of 1,683. Turnover declined to 1.75 billion shares valued at RM1.52bil. Decliners beat advancers more than two to one with 365 counters unchanged.
Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday as sharp declines in long-term US Treasury yields and waning hopes of a swift resolution to the US-China trade war spurred worries about global economic growth, Reuters reported.
Investors sold equities across Asia, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan plunging 1.5%.
The Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.62%, Taiwan's TAIEX lost 1.6%, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.53%, Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.61% lower and Singapore's STI 0.64% down.
Back home, power giant Tenaga Nasional extended its decline, falling 22 sen to RM13.92 and erased 2.22 points from the KLCI.
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lost six sen to RM4.80, Genting Bhd surrended 11 sen to RM6.40, GentingM three sen to RM2.93.
However, Sime Darby edged up one sen to RM2.39 and MAHB gained four sen to RM7.81.
Among the telcos, Maxis fell 12 sen to RM5.38 and Axiata five sen to RM3.90, Digi three sen to RM4.29 and Telekom two sen lower at RM2.54.
As for banks, RHB Bank edged up one sen to RM5.36 while Hong Leong Bank gained four sen to RM20.66. Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM9.42 and RM24.88 while CIMB shed one sen to RM5.80.
US light crude oil slipped 81 cents to US$52.44 and Brent lost 94 cents to US$61.14.
Petronas Chemical added six sen to RM9.21, Petronas Dagangan four sen lower at RM25.30 and Petronas Gas two sen to RM19.28 while Dialog shed a sen to RMN3.18.
Bumi Armada fell 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen – a fresh low again – in active trade with 196.7 million shares done.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery fell RM25 to RM1,995 per tonne.
Among the plantations, Sime Plantation advanced eight sen to RM4.80, IOI Corp shed one sen to RM4.38, KL Kepong four sen lower at RM24.40 while PPB Group was flat at RM17.
However, Techbond climbed 20 sen to 86 sen on its trading debut on the Main Market.
The ringgit fell 0.18% against the US dollar to 4.1540 but advanced against the pound sterling by 0.3% to 5.2876, up 0.26% versus the euro to 4.7096 and gained 0.16% to the Singapore dollar at 3.0376.
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