At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 31.23 points or 2.15% to close at an intraday low of 1,420.38 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,451.61.
The benchmark index opened 3.29 points lower from its intraday high of 1,448.32.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 660 to 238, while 361 counters were unchanged, 1,066 were not traded and nine others suspended.
Turnover was higher at 2.63 billion units valued at RM1.89 billion versus 2.49 billion units valued at RM1.78 billion yesterday.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong said the local bourse remained in the red throughout the day, spooked by hawkish remarks from the US Federal Reserve over the pace of future interest rate hikes as inflationary pressure persisted.
He said the weakness was also largely in tandem with mostly negative performances in markets across the region.
Back home, Bank Negara has delivered another 25 basis points rate hike to 2.75%, which is largely in line with consensus expectations.
Moving forward, the focus will shift to the impending release of a barrage of corporate earnings as well as the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).
“With the FBM KLCI slipping below the 1,430 support level, we reckon that downside risks remain prevalent with the next support located at 1,410 while resistance is at 1,465,” Leong told Bernama.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng predicts that the FBM KLCI would consolidate in the near term due to negative sentiment globally although bargain hunting might prevail.
“We anticipate the benchmark index to trend sideways within 1,415 to 1,430 range towards the weekend,” he added.
On the local bourse, heavyweights Maybank lost 13 sen to RM8.41, Petronas Chemicals fell 15 sen to RM8.50, CIMB Bank decreased 14 sen to RM5.35, Tenaga Nasional slipped 17 sen to RM8.23 and Public Bank went down nine sen to RM4.36.
Among the actives, Top Glove slid nine sen to 72 sen, and both Advance Synergy and Alam Maritim declined half-a-sen each to 6.5 sen and 1.5 sen respectively.
Citaglobal added 1.5 sen to 29 sen and Solution Group rose two sen to 32 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 193.92 points to 10,103.52, the FBM 70 slid 141.15 points to 12,059.70 and the FBMT 100 Index slipped 192.66 points to 9,838.19.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 209.12 points to 10,158.55, while the FBM ACE trimmed 67.41 points to 4,886.43.
Sector-wise, the financial services index sank 270.46 points to 16,055.64, the industrial products and services index edged down 2.56 points to 172.26, the plantation index shed 119.66 points to 6,717.03 and the energy index eased 2.29 points to 708.04.
The Main Market volume edged up to 1.84 billion shares worth RM1.63 billion from 1.66 billion shares worth RM1.52 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover declined to 244.84 million units valued at RM49.21 million from 253.71 million units valued at RM48.42 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume was slightly lower at 537.29 million shares worth RM209.44 million from 573.93 million shares worth RM212.18 million previously.