Within the region, volatility has already heightened, according to online equities broker Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd.

In a note issued this morning, the brokerage said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is likely to remain within the 1,380 to 1,390 range.

However, a ray of hope remains.

Rakuten Trade vice-president of research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that recent US attempts to ease tension with China could raise hopes that confidence would return to the financial system.

The market failed to sustain its recovery from yesterday. The FBM KLCI began the day at 1,382.96 points, down 2.46 points from yesterday’s close of 1,385.42.

It retreated another 1.73 points to settle at 1,381.23 points just 10 minutes into the trading day.

On the broader market, there were 192 decliners versus 117 gainers, while 251 counters were unchanged, 1,724 untraded and 13 others suspended.

The turnover was 273.80 million units worth RM96.41 million.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM8.62, Tenaga Nasional lost 10 sen to RM9.10, and Petronas Chemicals eased eight sen to RM6.32, while Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM3.82 and RM4.99 respectively.

Of the actives, Sarawak Consolidated and Classita ticked up half-a-sen each to 39 sen and 11 sen respectively, Ewein declined four sen to 66.5 sen while Tanco and KNM were unchanged at 49.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 29.90 points lower at 10,214.35, the FBMT 100 Index slid 30.31 points to 9,908.85, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 45.45 points to 10,571.82, the FBM 70 Index shed 42.81 points to 13,607.49, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 25.06 points to 5,173.94.

Sector-wise, the energy index fell 3.78 points to 783.65, and the industrial products and services index gave up 0.95 of-a-point to 159.12.

However, the plantation index perked up 8.60 points to 6,715.71 and the financial services index improved 3.43 points to 15,187.57.