KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia and key Asian markets fell in early Thursday trade, tracking the overnight tumble on Wall Street as the US Federal Reserve planned two more rate hikes next year.
At 9.28am, the KLCI was down 9.63 points to 1,646.03. Turnover was 391.94 million shares valued at RM176.40mil. There were 138 gainers, 231 losers and 168 counters unchanged.
Asian shares retreated after the US Federal Reserve raised rates, as expected, and kept most of its guidance for additional hikes next year, dashing investor hopes for a more dovish policy outlook, Reuters reported.
The Fed raised the federal funds rate – which is what banks charge each other for overnight loans – by a quarter point to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. It marked the central bank's ninth hike since late 2015.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.34%, with Australian shares dropping as much as 0.65% to two-year lows. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.8% to nine-month lows.
In New York, the US S&P 500 Index lost 1.54% to hit its lowest level since September 2017. US stocks are on pace for their biggest December decline since 1931, the depths of the Great Depression.
At Bursa, BAT fell RM1.34 to RM35.22, BAT 66 sen lower at RM70.88, Nestle 40 sen to RM145.90 and Carlsberg 34 sen to RM19.66. F&N gained 16 sen to RM30.96.
Petronas Dagangan fell 34 sen to RM25.26 and Petronas Gas 20 sen lower at RM19. Hengyuan lost 15 sen to RM4.61. Dialog rebounded 12 sen to RM2.87.
Maxis lost 16 sen to RM5.31 and Public Bank 14 sen lower at RM24.52.
QL Resources and KL Kepong added 10 sen each to RM6.20 and RM24.10 while MAHB gained nine sen to RM8.26 and Top Glove eight sen higher at RM5.46.
