Trading interest and gains in Bursa KL on Sept 29 were seen in FMCG stocks, the financials, plantations and industrials as hopes climbs for KLCI to breach its cautious stance as sellers pared down for intraday gains closing at the day’s low of 1,394.50 pts, sentiment remains cautious as the KLCI approaches the month’s end with expectations of the volatility picking up on the last trading session of September.
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday on worries that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive fight against inflation could hobble the U.S. economy, and as investors fretted about a rout in global currency and debt markets.
With tech heavyweights Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) slumping more than 4%, the Nasdaq sank to near its lowest level of 2022, set in mid-June.
The S&P 500 (.SPX) touched lows last seen in November 2020. Down more than 8% in September, the benchmark is on track for its worst September since 2008.
A sell-off in U.S. Treasuries resumed as Fed officials gave no indication the U.S. central bank would moderate or change its plans to aggressively raise interest rates to bring down high inflation.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said she does not see distress in U.S. financial markets that would alter the central bank’s campaign to lower inflation through rate hikes that have taken the Fed funds rate to a range of 3.0% to 3.25%.
Data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a five-month low last week as the labour market remains resilient despite the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes, Reuters cited.
“Good news is bad news in that today’s job number again reiterates that the Fed has a long way to go,” said Phil Blancato, head of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management in New York. “The fear in the marketplace is that the Fed is going to push us into a very deep recession, which will cause an earnings recession, which is why the market is selling off.”
The most traded stock in the S&P 500 was Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), with $20.8 billion worth of shares exchanged during the session. The shares declined 6.8%.
The yields on many Treasuries, which are considered virtually risk-free if held to maturity, now dwarf the S&P 500’s dividend yield, which recently stood at about 1.8%, according to Refinitiv Datastream.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.11% to end the session at 3,640.47 points.
The Nasdaq declined 2.84% to 10,737.51 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.54% to 29,225.61 points.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 11.6 billion shares traded, compared with an average of 11.4 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led lower by utilities (.SPLRCU), down 4.06%, followed by a 3.37% loss in consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD).
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) by an 11.6-to-1 ratio. Meta Platforms (META.O) ended down 3.7% after Bloomberg reported the Facebook owner froze hiring and warned employees of more downsizing to come.
CarMax Inc (KMX.N) slumped nearly 25% after the used-car retailer missed expectations for second-quarter results, hurt by consumers cutting spending amid inflation, rising interest rates and higher car prices.
General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) fell more than 5% each.
Airline carriers and cruise operators fell on cancelled or delayed trips after Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s Gulf Coast with catastrophic force.
American Airlines (AAL.O), United Airlines Holdings (UAL.O) and Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) each lost more than 2%.
Cruise ship operators Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH.N) dropped 5.3% and Carnival Corp (CCL.N) fell 6.8%.
The S&P 500 posted no new highs and 106 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 14 new highs and 518 new lows.
No Relief Yet For Malaysia Stock Market
Meanwhile, the Malaysia stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, slumping more than 65 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just beneath the 1,400-point plateau and it’s looking at another hostile lead for Friday’s trade.
RTT.News cited the global forecast for the Asian markets is brutal on growing fears of a recession and rising interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The KLCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the glove makers and mixed performances from the financials, plantations and industrials.
For the day, among the actives: Axiata skidded 0.75 percent, while CIMB Group gained 0.78 percent, Dialog Group advanced .00 percent, Digi.com tanked 1.45 percent, Genting rallied 2.07 percent, Genting Malaysia lost 0.36 percent, Hartalega Holdings plummeted 3.66 percent, IHH Healthcare dipped 0.17 percent, INARI climbed 1.19 percent, IOI Corporation added 0.27 percent, Kuala Lumpur Kepong improved 0.87 percent, MISC strengthened 1.47 percent, MRDIY declined 1.01 percent, Petronas Chemicals rose 0.24 percent, PPB Group perked 0.37 percent, Public Bank tumbled 1.41 percent, RHB Capital collected 0.72 percent, Sime Darby sank 0.47 percent, Sime Darby Plantations jumped 1.72 percent, Telekom Malaysia was up 0.18 percent, Tenaga Nasional plunged 1.79 percent, Top Glove retreated 0.85 percent and Maybank, Maxis and Press Metal were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deeply in the red, although they closed off of sessions lows.
