Kuala Lumpur, December 19 – Following the volatility of the global market, Bursa Malaysia ended in pale red on Monday. The bell-weathered index, FBM KLCI shed 1.45 points or -0.1% at 1,477.09.
Meanwhile, most of the Asian bourses ended in bearish note as investors stumbled with worries on the Federal Reserve and ECB may fight inflation by hiking rates again, and hence cause a recession. Last Friday, Wall Street fell after the Fed raised its forecast of how long interest rates have to stay elevated to cool inflation that is near a four-decade high. On the same page, European Central Bank gave the warning that more rate hikes are coming.
Except for Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) which bucked the trend of regional peers by climbing up 0.5% to 3,256.09. Stock markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and Korea also tumbled. Most of the markets extending losses from last week as concerns over a potential recession in 2023 weighed on investors’ mood. Whilst China’s rising Covid cases also cause much concerns as it might put a dent on the economic reopening
** The FTSE BM KLCI opened at 1,476.72. The index fluctuated between 1,471.57– 1,477.41.
** 393 counters are gainers, 416 counters are unchanged, while 495 counters are decliners.
** Total volume of 3.02 billion shares changed hands; while Turnover of RM 1.789 billion
** The Top 5 Gainers: HEXTECH (16.64, +1.04); MPI (31.06, +0.56); PETDAG (22.28, +0.44); INFOTEC (1.02, +0.175); TENAGA (9.31, +0.16)
** The Top 5 Losers: NESTLE (137.00, -2.00); FANG-2XL (4.90, -0.58); PPB (17.46, -0.38); SIMEPLT (4.43, -0.34); CHINTEK (8.30, -0.29)
** The Top 5 Active: ASB (0.205, -0.015); SUNVIEW (0.615, +0.11); BORNOIL (0.025, 0.00); YEWLEE (0.425, +0.05); COSMOS (0.655, +0.16)
Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) gained 16.18 points or +0.5% to 3,256.09; Hong Kong’s HSI dropped 97.86 points or -0.5% at 19,352.81; Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped 289.48 points or -1.05% at 27,237.64; Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index slid 60.74 point or -1.92% at 3,107.12; Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 7.85 point or -0.33% at 2,352.17; Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index ceded 14.80 points or -0.21% at 7,133.90.
