Bursa Malaysia falls after dismal Wall St performance

KUALA LUMPUR: The sell-off on Wall Street overnight is expected to spill over to global markets as fears intensified that US interest rates are set to rise higher for longer than initially assumed.

Investors are taking money off the table after a January rally that banked on the US Federal Reserve winding down its rate hikes on the back of slowing inflation.

However, recent economic data showing persistent inflation have poured cold water on that hope and equities are now erasing the gains made earlier this year.

At the opening bell, Malaysia's bellwether FBM KLCI was down 1.52 points to 1,472.49, with the external pressure compounding investor jitters over the tabling of Budget 2023.

"Following the heavy plunge on Wall Street overnight, we believe investors may stay on the sidelines as concerns over the interest rate hikes expectation continues to pressure the market sentiment.

"Nevertheless, the US FOMC meeting minutes will remain in focus and should provide more clues going forward," said Malacca Securities Research in a report.

Technology stocks are expected to take the worst hit on Bursa Malaysia as the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 2.5% in overnight trading.

Bursa Malaysia's Technology Index slipped 0.8% to 62.84 in the first five minutes of trading, with MPI shaving 82 sen to RM29.10, Pentamaster losing six sen to RM4.85 and Unisem falling three sen to RM2.85.

Some highlights of the day included AirAsia X, which soared 15.5 sen to 83.5 sen at the time of writing following a report that showed an earnings jump.

DKSH rose 14 sen to RM4.98, Bonia gained seven sen to RM2.69 and Hextar Technologies climbed 10 sen to RM25.20.

Top active counters included Hong Seng flat at 19 sen, Capital A up five sen to 72 sen and Bintai Kinden unchanged at 9.5 sen.