The British pound had collapsed no less than 15 US cents, easily the biggest fall in living memory.
KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets and Bursa Malaysia fell in volatile trade in late Friday morning trade as worries about Britain leaving the EU grew as the voting continued.
At 11.16am, the FBM KLCI was down 15.67 points or 0.96% to 1,624.31. Turnover was 738.86 million shares valued at RM522.60mil. Decliners beat advancers nearly six to one or 583 losers to 108 while 229 counters were unchanged.
Reuters reported Carnage came to world markets on Friday as early voting returns suggested Britain was on the brink of leaving the EU, threatening the existence of the entire bloc and its single currency. Risk assets were scorched as investors fled to the safety of top-rated government debt, with FTSE futures off 6% and EMINI S&P 500 futures down 3.5%.
The British pound had collapsed no less than 15 US cents, easily the biggest fall in living memory, while the euro slid 2.8% as investors feared for its very future. Sterling sank a staggering 9% to $1.3550, having carved out a range of $1.3462 to $1.5022. The fall was even larger than during the global financial crisis and the currency was moving two or three cents in the blink of an eye.
At Bursa Malaysia, KL Kepong fell 24 sen to RM22.76, Hong Leong Bank was down 28 sen to RM13 and PPB was down 26 sen to RM16.10.
Power giant Tenaga Nasional fell 24 sen to RM14 in active trade.
SCGM was down 23 sen to RM3.38, AirAsia lost 11 sen to RM2.55 in active trade and Bumi Armada
was down two sen to 69.5 sen.
On a more positive note, BAT added 80 sen to RM50.58 and Nestle 30 sen to RM77.
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