Bursa Malaysia sinks as trade tensions escalate

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended in the morning trading session in red, dampened by across-the-board selling following bearish sentiment on fears that an escalating trade spat between China and the US. 

At 12.30 pm, the bellwether FBM KLCI fell 12.49 points to 1,864.38. The index moved between a low of 1,857.86 and a high of 1,867.16 throughout the morning session. It opened 16.29 points lower at 1,860.58.

In the broader market, there were 781 losers against 136 gainers while 272 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 1.05 billion shares worth RM853.67mil.

On Bursa Malaysia, Hong Leong Bank shed 58 sen to RM18.64, Petronas Dagangan fell 52 sen to RM24.28 and KESEM declined 34 sen to RM19.46.

Nestle rose RM4.60 to RM146.40, United Plantations gained 32 sen to RM28.52 while Scientex closed 13 sen higher at RM8.16.

Among the actively-traded stocks, Sapura Energy added one sen to 55 sen with 72 million shares traded. 

Adding to the downbeat note, Asian markets also slumped on Friday, tracking sharp falls in U.S. and European stocks, which took a hit on fears of a potential trade war.

China announced plans for reciprocal tariffs on US$3bil of imports from the US, including products from steel to pork, after President Donald Trump’s move to order levies on a range of Chinese goods.

US markets plunged over 2% overnight on concerns of trade war after President Trump revealed tariffs on China for intellectual property theft.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 724.42 points to close at 23,957.89 while the S&P 500 fell 2.5% to 2,643.69.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 3.9% to 20,745.51, its lowest levels in around five months while the South Korean’s Kospi was down 2.2% at 2,441.51 points, its lowest intraday trading level since March 9.

The Shanghai Composite index was down 3.27% at 3,156.89, after earlier hitting its weakest since Feb. 12. China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was down 3.21% at 3,891.47 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index sinking 2.8%.