UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Sedek Jantan said today’s decline was not isolated to the domestic market but mirrored regional bourses, signalling broader risk aversion.
“The sell-off was triggered by renewed investor anxiety over a proposed US tax-cut bill, which is feared could significantly exacerbate the federal deficit,” he said.
Concerns over the fiscal implications of the bill have intensified this week, prompting a further synchronised sell-off in US equities and bonds overnight.
“This wave of global risk-off sentiment subsequently spilled over into Asian markets,” he told Bernama, adding that despite the FBM KLCI registering a string of daily declines, early signs of stabilisation were emerging.
Sedek noted that selective rebounds in key index constituents suggest bargain hunting is beginning to take hold as valuations become increasingly compelling.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.84% to 36,985.87, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.19% to 23,544.31 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.17% to 3,875.82.
Mirroring the regional downtrend, the FBM KLCI dipped 17.78 points to 1,527.02 at 5pm from yesterday’s close of 1,544.80.
The benchmark index opened 3.34 points lower at 1,541.46 and stayed down for the rest of the trading session.
In the broader market, losers thumped gainers 660 to 298, while 496 counters were unchanged, 964 untraded and seven suspended.
Turnover fell to 2.78 billion units worth RM2.15 billion against Wednesday’s 3.27 billion units worth RM2.16 billion.
Among heavyweights, CelcomDigi and Petronas Gas rose 2 sen each to RM3.92 and RM17.68 respectively, MISC was flat at RM7.66, Maybank dipped 18 sen to RM9.82, Public Bank lost 13 sen to RM4.30, Tenaga Nasional went down 10 sen to RM14 and CIMB depreciated 15 sen to RM6.85.
For active stocks, Velesto gained 0.5 sen to 17 sen, NationGate advanced 2 sen to RM1.59, JAKS and TA Win were flat at 10.5 sen and 2 sen respectively, while Tanco decreased 1.5 sen to 95 sen, Sarawak Cable was 1 sen down to 2 sen and MyEG was 0.5 sen lower at 89.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 106.02 points to 11,419.66, the FBMT 100 Index slid 107.02 points to 11,175.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 62.63 points to 11,383.02, the FBM 70 Index trimmed 64.03 points to 16,281.87, and the FBM ACE Index shaved off 13.50 points to 4,612.55.
Across sectors, the financial services index reduced 282.62 points to 17,933.25, the industrial products and services index eased 1.30 points to 153.75, the energy index shed 6.26 points to 706.70, while the plantation index dropped 23.97 points to 7,305.81.
The Main Market volume was lower at 1.23 billion units valued at RM1.90 billion against yesterday’s 1.33 billion units valued at RM1.87 billion.
Warrants turnover eased to 1.29 billion units worth RM169.74 million from 1.62 billion units worth RM191.45 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume declined to 260.76 million worth RM83.47 million from 327.86 million units worth RM96.64 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 178.67 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (211.67 million), construction (97.37 million), technology (152.46 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (97.30 million), property (138.16 million), plantation (12.55 million), REITs (11.14 million), closed/fund (30,100), energy (134.32 million), healthcare (53.46 million), telecommunications and media (45.02 million), transportation and logistics (46.07 million), utilities (50.61 million), and business trusts (19,000).