KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI idled near intraday lows as fears over a wider regional conflict escalated following Iran's missile attack on Israel overnight.
Bursa Malaysia's benchmark index dove 16.41 points or nearly 1% to 1,639.94 as investors fled equities for lower-risk assets in lights of the growing turmoil.
Over the course of the early session, the index traded within a band of 1,637.06 to 1,647.30.
The market breadth was deeply negative with 810 decliners compared to 225 gainers, with 12 out of the 13 sectors in the red. Energy was the sole positive outlier given the jump in crude oil prices given supply concerns in the Middle East.
The trading volume was 2.44 billion changing hands for RM1.28bil.
Among blue chips, Maybank shed eight sen to RM10.46, CIMB dropped 10 sen to RM7.99 and Public Bank fell seven sen to RM4.54.
Press Metal
dropped eight sen to RM4.97, Telekom Malaysia slid 14 sen to RM6.59 and YTL Power lost 10 sen to RM3.61.
Among actives Talam was flat at two sen, PA Resources rose one sen to 33.5 sen and LHI gained 1.5 sen to 76 sen.
In key Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng leapt 6% to 22,401 on China's stimulus measures.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.7% to 37,993 while Singapore's Straits Times index gained 0.27% to 3,590.
China's mainland markets remained closed for a national day holiday.
