Investors flee equities amid fears of US recession


KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia was not spared the global sell-off in equities with the benchmark index falling 2.75% in the early session.

The FBM KLCI entered the lunch break at 1,566.67 after shaving 44.38 points off last Friday's closing price.

The broader market was a sea of red with investors selling lower a whopping 1,528 stocks, compared to buying up just 61 shares.

Amid the strong selling, share turnover for the half-day soared to 4.86 billion shares, valued at RM3.59bil.

Among the leading blue chips, Tenaga dropped 60 sen to RM13.36, YTL Power shed 32 sen to RM4.17, and CIMB fell 26 sen to RM7.14.

Top actives were PHB flat at one sen, Velesto down one sne ot 20.5 sen and MYEG sliding 8.5 sen to 88.5 sen.

The performance of the domestic equities, however, was in line with the regional trend as global investors pulled out of risky assets at a frenetic pace, triggered by recent economic data that showed the US economy could risk contraction as a result of the Federal Reserve's tightening measures.

The most hard-hit of the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei index plunged over 7% to 33,178, erasing nearly all the gains it had made this year.

Singapore's Straits Times index saw 3.24% of its value stuck off to 7,685.

In China, the composite index maintained its composure, edging a fraction higher at 2,807, although Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.22% to 16,908.

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

   

Next In Business News

SC to unveil toolkit to assist listed companies' transition to meet NSRF compliance
Colform aims to rise RM41.19mil from IPO to fund expansion plans
Affin Bank targets 146 branches by end-2025
Country Garden overdue results show steep losses amid sector's sales slump
Sunway to leverage SEZ, healthcare for growth catalysts
Potential impact from US AI chip restrictions to be minimal for Malaysian contractors - CIMB
Global uncertainties push ringgit to open higher against US$
FBM KLCI finds its footing with positive start
Trading ideas: Yinson, Mah Sing, YTL Power, Kawan, Theta, Target I, AYS, Atlan, Sunway Property, CapitaLand, Oriental Kopi
Oil prices slip on US energy demand forecast

Others Also Read