Stock exchanges in Asia saw a bloodbath today, taking the cue from the US market which fell sharply last Friday as a weak jobs report for July and a higher unemployment rate ignited fears the US economy could be falling into a recession.
The Nikkei 225 faced its worst day since the 1987 Black Monday crash on Wall Street with a 12.4% rout, South Korea’s Kospi was down 8.77%, and Taiwan’s Taiex Index fell 8.35%.
The FBM KLCI dropped as much as 4.89% today, its worst day since March 13, 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic crash.
The sharp drop in over a dozen stocks on the local bourse triggered suspensions in intraday short selling (IDSS), with a majority being technology-related stocks.
These included Notion VTec Bhd, VS Industry Bhd, Nationgate Holdings Bhd, SMRT Holdings Bhd, TT Vision Holdings Bhd, Infoline Tec Group Bhd and Kobay Technology Bhd.
Construction companies WCT Holdings Bhd and Kimlun Corp Bhd, and property stocks Mah Sing Group Bhd and KSL Holdings Bhd also faced IDSS suspension. Others affected were oil and gas services providers Icon Offshore Bhd and Deleum Bhd, and utilities group Ranhill Utilities Bhd.
More selling on the cards
MyEG Services Bhd tumbled 14.95% or 15 sen to 82 sen, and was the most heavily traded stock on Bursa with 202.5 million shares changing hands. It is now valued at RM6.65 billion.
Big-cap tech stock Inari Amertron Bhd fell 8.66% or 31 sen to RM3.27, valuing it at RM12.86 billion. Nationgate Holdings Bhd fell 13.13% or 26 sen to RM1.72 while Cape EMS Bhd tumbled 16.3% or 11 sen to 56 sen. The latter is down 47% year-to-date (YTD).
Notion VTec was another big loser as its shares dropped 13.79% or 28 sen to RM1.75, Malaysian Pacific Industries fell 6% or RM2.10 to RM32.90, SNS Network Technology Bhd was down 13.91% or 11 sen to 65 sen, and Kobay Technology Bhd plunged 16.75% or 35 sen to RM1.74.
If local tech companies think they are having it bad, spare a thought for semiconductor giant Intel, which shares plunged the most in 50 years last Friday, after it reported a huge earnings miss and plans for a massive layoff. The stock plummeted 26% to US$21.48 (RM95.06) at the close.
The market situation is likely going to get worse when the US markets open later tonight, according to the futures market.
At 7.55pm, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures was down 903.30 points or 2.27% while the Nasdaq 100 futures had plunged an eye-watering 937.7 points or 3.44%, and the S&P futures (-183.9 points or -3.44%).