KUALA LUMPUR: Selling pressure on key Asian markets continued on Thursday, spurred by the overnight tumble on Wall Street, while at Bursa Malaysia, the FBM KLCI fell more than 3%.
At 9.11am, the KLCI was down 52.20 points or 3.01% to 1,682.98. Turnover was 407.69 million shares valued at RM197.98mil. Decliners hammered advancers 691 to 35 while 97 counters were unchanged.
On Wednesday, the KLCI fell nearly 40 points. With this morning’s losses, the decline is about 90 points, as the technical supports for the index have broken down.
Bursa data showed local retailers jumped into the market on Wednesday with net buying at RM207.5mil while local institutions were net sellers at RM9.7mil. Bulk of the net selling was from foreign funds at RM197.80mil – the third day of net selling.
Meanwhile, Asian share markets sank early Thursday after Wall Street suffered its worst drubbing in eight months, a conflagration of wealth that could threaten business confidence and investment across the globe, Reuters reported.
US stocks tumbled on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow marking their biggest daily declines since Feb. 8, and technology stocks were at the center of the carnage as rising US Treasury yields sent investors fleeing from risky assets, the report said.
AmBank Research chief economist Anthony Dass said: “A further escalation of trade tensions, as well as rising geopolitical risks and policy uncertainty in major economies, could lead to a sudden deterioration in risk sentiment, triggering a broad-based correction in global capital markets and a sharp tightening of global financial conditions.”
Nestle fell RM3.10 to RM142.90, BAT RM1.50 to RM33.50, Dutch Lady
Rm1.10 to RM63.20 and F&N 92 sen to RM34.84.
Petronas Dagangan lost RM1 to RM25.10, MPI 72 sen to RM11.30, Tenaga 72 sen also to RM13.96 and Hong Leong Bank 70 sen lower at RM19.86.
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