KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI is on course to end the week 1.5% lower as the return of oil prices to a two-month high revived fears of soaring inflation and higher interest rates.
Falling 9.18 points to 1,705.41, the FBM KLCI is facing renewed selling in nearly all its constituent blue chips, except for a few outliers in the energy and plantations sectors.
PETRONAS Chemicals added eight sen to a six-week high of RM4.91, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 24 sen to RM20.90 and SD Guthrie climbed three sen to RM6.59.
Underpinning these losses was a broad market weakness, reflected in 659 counters sinking in the red as compared to 278 gainers.
Trading volume was 1.83 billion shares changing hands for RM1.02bil.
Telco shares suffered the biggest drop, shaving 1.2% in the morning session.
Construction stocks dropped 0.8%, healthcare shares shed 0.65, and technology plays fell 0.61%. Financial services dropped 0.6%. Energy shares were also subdued, dropping 0.25%.
Plantation shares stood out amid the selldown, rising 0.12%.
Regional markets were a sea of red as traders braced for another round of escalation in the Iran conflict, which is expected to tighten tighten oil supply from the Middle East.
As it stands, Brent crude futures for September delivery has topped US$100 a barrel, which puts it at its highest since May.
South Korea's Kospi dove 5.1% to 6,731 as investors scrambled to cash out of tech heavyweights. It was the same on Japan's Nikkei, which lost 2.89% to 64,456, as investors fretted over the heavy expansion cost in AI companies.
The Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.2% to 3,830 while the blue-chip CSI300 slid 1.17% to 4,672.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.27% to 24,891.
