KUALA LUMPUR: A slide in Maybank and Tenaga Nasional shares sent the FBM KLCI to the lowest close since December 2016 while the ringgit extended its decline against the US dollar.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 8.56 points or 0.53% to 1,620.90 and Bursa was the only bourse in the red.
Year-to-date, the index is down 4.12%, making it the worst performer among the key Asian markets.
Turnover was 3.10 billion shares valued at RM1.85bil. Decliners beat advancers more than three to one or 661 losers to 208 gainers and 365 counters unchanged.
The ringgit fell 0.11% to the US dollar 4.1370, slumped 0.25% to the euro at 4.6804 and lost 0.29% to the Singapore dollar at 3.0583. However, it edged up 0.19% against the pound sterling.
Malaysia could see outflows of almost US$8bil if its bonds are downgraded by global index provider FTSE Russell, Reuters reported, quoting a Morgan Stanley research note.
FTSE said on Monday that it would review Malaysia's market accessibility level in its World Government Bond Index (WGBI) due to concerns about market liquidity.
At Bursa, consumer stocks fell on profit taking, with BAT down 78 sen to RM35.98, Carlsberg 70 sen to RM25.56, Dutch Lady
and Ajinomoto 20 sen each to RM63.80 and RM17.50.
F&N bucked the trend, up 24 sen to RM34.74, Nestle gained 10 sen to RM1461.10 and Heineken added eight sen to RM24.60.
Maybank fell 21 sen to RM9 and erased 4.01 points from the KLCI. It fell in a knee-jerk reaction to news that Singapore's PUB would take over Hyflux's Tuaspring desalination plant in the island nation.
Maybank has a total exposure of RM1.95bil (S$658.6mil) to Hyflux since September 2013. As at 2Q18, Maybank had set aside collective provisions totaling RM315.1mil.
Tenaga lost 24 sen to RM12.06 and wiped out 2.36 points from the KLCI. IHH lost four sen to RM5.53. Genting Malaysia was flat at RM3.08 and Genting Bhd inched up one sen to RM6.75.
MAHB staged a mild rebound, up six sen to RM6.81 and Sime Darby rose three sen to RM2.24.
Axiata fell five sen to RM4.13, Maxis three sen to RM5.53 and Digi one sen to RM4.68.
US light crude oil climbed 37 cents to US$64.42 and Brent rose 32 cents to US$72.04.
Petronas Gas added four sen to RM17.74 but Petronas Daganag lost 16 sen to RM24.94 and Petronas Chemcials shed three sen to RM8.91. Dialog was down two sen to RM3.12.
As for other banks, Hong Leong Bank fell eight sen to RM20, AmBank two sen to RM4.44, Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM22.60 and RM5.05, RHB Bank rose four sen to RM5.79.
Crude palm oil for third month delivery rose RM40 to RM2,213 per tonne. IOI Corp rose two sen to RM4.50. PPB Group fell 12 sen to RM18.78 and KL Kepong slumped 22 sen to RM24.70.
Takaful saw strong interest, climbing 11 sen to RM5.40 while Pharmaniaga added 10 sen to RM2.21.
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