KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia suffered a bloodbath on Monday, plunging to its lowest level in 16 months as a wave of heavy selling swept through the market.
The rout mirrors a regional meltdown, with fears of a global trade war and economic slump driving a massive flight from risk.
At the close, the FBM KLCI plunged 60.34 points, or 4.01%, to 1,443.80, marking its lowest level since December 2023.
Today’s drop was the largest since a 4.63% fall on August 5. The index reached an intraday low of 1,419.05 and a high of 1,475.31. All indices ended the day in negative territory.
In the broader market, selling dominated as 1,296 stocks tumbled while only 122 managed to rise, dragging market breadth down to a bleak 0.09. For every stock that went up, about ten went down — showing the market was firmly in bear territory.
Traded volumes surged to 5.35 billion units, valued at RM4.7bil, as relentless selling pressure took hold.
Dealers said concerns were mounting that the steeper-than-expected U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump were fueling fears of a global downturn.
Malaysian Pacific Industries
, the top loser on Bursa Malaysia tumbled RM2.50 to RM14.66. Heineken slid RM1 to RM25.50, Allianz lost 85 sen to RM17.04 and PETRONAS Dagangan fell 88 sen to RM17.32.
Among the banks, Maybank fell 24 sen to RM10, CIMB lost 39 sen to RM6.62, Public Bank slid 16 sen to RM4.21, RHB Bank declined 20 sen to RM6.49 and Hong Leong Bank tumbled 56 sen to RM19.32.
Meanwhile, key indices across the region ended sharply lower. Among regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 7.83% to 31,136.58;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 13.22% to 19,828.30;
China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed down 7.34% to 3,096.58;
Taiwan’s Taiex slid 9.7% to 19,232.35;
South Korea’s Kospi closed down 5.57% to 2,328.20 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 7.46% to 3,540.50 points.
