The Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand are all posting their fastest economic growth rates in years, while Singapore is poised to keep up that streak in data released on Thursday. All four economies are projected to slow into the final three months of the year while retaining impressive 2017 growth figures and keeping pace into next year, according to Bloomberg survey data.
KUALA LUMPUR: Anxiety over new taxes to shore up the country's finances sent the FBM KLCI skidding nearly 40 points on Wednesday with the big capitalised stocks among the most affected.
Bursa Malaysia was the worst performer among the key Asian markets, dragged down by losses in Axiata, Tenaga, CIMB, Telekom, Genting and Maybank.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 38.79 points or 2.2% to 1,735.18 – the lowest since July 17 this year.
Turnover rose to 3.02 billion shares valued at RM2.96bil. Decliners beat advancers nearly 10 to one or 994 losers to 116 gainers and 286 counters unchanged.
Selling pressure on Bursa picked up pace in late morning session as rising worries about the new taxes sapped investors' confidence. A decision to unveil new taxes would only be made on Nov 2 when the Budget 2019 proposals are announced.
Malaysia could see a flurry of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the coming months as the government looks to pare down direct ownership in companies to raise funds, the chief executive of CIMB Investment Bank was quoted saying by Reuters.
On the external front, Singapore's STI fell 1.11%, South Korea's Kospi lost 1.12% but other markets fared better.
China's blue-chip index fell for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, but the main Shanghai Composite index rose as investors weighed government support for continued growth against the impact of the US-China trade war. At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.2% at 2,725.84, Reuters reported.
At Bursa, Axiata fell 51 sen to RM3.85 and erased a whopping 9.12 points from the KLCI, Telekom was down 48 sen to RM2.55 and wiped 3.23 points while Digi was down eight sen to RM4.57 and Maxis 10 sen lower at RM5.57.
Tenaga fell 70 sen to RM14.68 and erased 7.13 points from the index. Genting 46 sen lower at RM7.30 and Genting Malaysia 27 sen to RM4.66.
As for banks, CIMB fell 20 sen to RMN5.84 and it was enough to shave 3.36 points from the KLCI, Maybank 14 sen lower at RM9.51, RHB Bank nine sen to RM5.21 and Hong Leong Bank four sen to RM20.56 but Public Bank gained two se to RM24.98.
Among the plantations, IOI Corp lost three sen to RM5.24, PPB Group flat at RM16.88 while KL Kepong gained two sen to RM24.94.
Sime Plantation lost three sen to RM5.24, while Sime Property eased one sen to RM1.11 but Sime Darby added three sen to RM2.63.
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