KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia equities joined in a regional sell-off with over 900 counters in the red as tensions escalated between Iran and Isreal, sparking concerns over a wider regional impact.
The blue-chip FBM KLCI is on course to a third straight day of selling as it entered the lunch break 6.46 points or 0.42% lower at 1,544.58
Trading volume was 2.73 billion shares valued at RM1.64bil.
Sectors across the market were down, except for energy, which was up on rising crude oil prices due to fears over supply disruption stemming from the Middle Eastern conflict.
Brent crude futures were down 0.17% but remained elevated above US$90 a barrel as the traders had already factored in supply disruptions.
Heavyweights undergoing selling pressure included Axiata down seven sen to RM2.50, CelcomDigi falling eight sen to RM4.10, Hong Leong Bank shedding 12 sen to RM19.34, Ambank dropping five sne to RM4.19, Sime Darby Plantation
falling seven sen to RM4.44 and YTL Power sliding five sen to RM3.87.
Of actives, Harvest Miracle was unchanged at 12 sen, Dnex slipped one sen to 40.5 sen, Dnex lost one sen to 40.5 sen and Velesto was up 0.5 sen to 28 sen.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were hit by negative sentiment including Japan, whose benchmark Nikkei slipped 1.1% to 39,082, and South Korea's Kospi falling 0.7% to 2,663.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.7% to 16,599 while the mainland Shanghai Composite index rose 1.2% to 3,055.
