KLCI sinks 12.95 points amid regional sea of red

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia succumbed to selling pressure on Tuesday, tracking the sea of red across regional markets on concerns that the US Federal Reserve would tighten policies.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI ended down 12.95 points, or 0.85% to 1,508.91 after rising to an intraday high of 1,517.09.

Market breadth was negative as losers overpowered the gainers on a ratio of 803-to-215 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 2.8 billion shares worth RM2.14bil.

Dealers said investors were concerned about a faster-than-expected US rate hike by the Federal Reserve. They added that the geopolitical tension in Ukraine added to market volatility.

Nestle was the top loser on Bursa Malaysia, falling 70 sen to RM132.30, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (MPI) lost 38 sen to RM39.12, KESM shed 34 sen to RM10.20 and Dutch Lady eased 32 sen to RM32.02.

On the other hand, F&N jumped 42 sen to RM25.42, Petronas Dagangan rose 26 sen to RM19.38, Malaysia Airports added 10 sen to RM5.82 and Syarikat Takaful gained 10 sen to RM3.66.

Among the banks, Maybank fell two sen to RM8.23, Public Bank declined one sen to RM4.18 and RHB Bank lost seven sen to RM5.52. CIMB and Hong Leong Bank closed flat at RM5.25 and RM19.16 respectively.

Meanwhile, oil prices rebound on Thursday as growing geopolitical tensions fuel supply fears.

US light crude oil rose 50 cents to US$83.81 a barrel and Brent gained 53 cents to US$86.80 per barrel.

Among the key regional markets:

Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended down 1.66% to 27,131.34;

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.67% to 24,243.61;

Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.58% to 3,433.06;

Taiwan’s Taiex eased 1.6% to 17,701.12;

South Korea’s Kospi closed down 2.56% to 2,720.39 and;

Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.32% to 3,239.97. points.