KUALA LUMPUR: The local market fell sharply in tandem with global markets as the political crisis raised the possibility of further erosion of European unity, derailing expectations of global growth.
Observers say the repeat election in Europe's third-largest economy may determine the future participation of Italy in the EU.
On the local front, Bursa Malaysia, which was already seeing a steady outflow of foreign investment dollars, was one of the worst performing markets in the morning session.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 44.86 points to 1,730.98. TUrnover was 1.77 billion shares with a value of RM1.79bil. There were 985 decliners versus 110 gainers and 261 counters unchanged.
Heavyweights Maybank and Tenaga Nasional were two of the biggest decliners. Malaysia's largest banking group lost 41 sen to RM9.59 while TNB dropped 68 sen to RM14.10, shaving a combined 13.3 points off the index.
Meanwhile, Petronas Chemicals fell 31 sen to RM8.
Banks were among the clear losers of the day, on the heels of their US counterparts which led the declines on Wall Street overnight.
Public Bank slid 28 sen to RM24.62, CIMB dropped nine sen to RM5.97 and Hong Leong Bank slipped 52 sen to RM18.42.
Telco counter Axiata lost 14 sen to RM4.22 while Digi fell 14 sen to RM4.30. Maxis was unchanged at RM5.78.
On the broader market, Muda fell 70 sen to RM2.12, Hengyuan was 51 sen lower at RM6.25 and Gamuda skidded 43 sen to RM3.70.
Gainers included BAT rising 72 sen to RM32.50, Top Glove adding eight sen to RM10.28 and CMMT adding six sen to RM1.26.
Oil markets slipped on ongoing concerns that Saudi Arabia and Russia would raise supplies in the second half of the year.
WTI crude was unchanged at US$66.73 a barrel while Brent crude dropped 15 cents to US$75.24
In currencies, the ringgit edged close to the 4.0 mark against the strengthening greenback, falling 0.31% to 3.9948. It also fell a half percent agains the pound sterling at 5.2950 and a half percent against the Singapore dollar at 2.706.
