Bursa Malaysia ends at over 6 1/2-month low

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended at a six-and-a half month low with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) losing 28.07 points or 1.61% to 1,715.36, the lowest level seen since Dec 4, 2017, in tandem with losses in regional bourses which were reeling under the escalating trade war between the United States and China.
The index opened 5.23 points weaker at 1,738.20 from Monday's close of 1,743.43 and moved between 1,715.36 and 1,739.25 throughout the day.
Market sentiment remained bearish with losers outpacing gainers 673 to 226 with 386 counters unchanged, 624 untraded and 24 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.30 billion shares worth RM2.65 billion.
A dealer said in line with other regional bourses, Bursa Malaysia was affected by the downtrend in China's stock market after the United States and China announced plans to impose tariffs on billions of dollars in imported goods.
US President Donald Trump announced US$$50 billion in new tariffs on Chinese imports last Friday while China retaliated by slapping tariffs of US$34 billion on US imports within 24 hours of Trump's move.
Traders expressed concerns the new tariffs could negatively affect global economic growth.
Regionally, Shanghai Composite Index slumped 114.08 points or 3.78% to 2,907.82, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 841.34 points or 2.78% to 29,468.15 and Japan's Nikkei retreated 401.85 points or 1.77% to 22,278.48.
Back home, among the actively traded stocks, Sapura Energy gave up three sen to 60 sen while MyEG gained 1.5 sen to 98 sen, Kretam was half-a-sen better at 46.5 sen while Nova MSC and Nexgram were unchanged at 13.5 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively.
Of heavyweights, Maybank shed 27 sen to RM9.28, Public Bank erased 64 sen to RM23.36, Digi slipped 14 sen to RM4.33, Axiata was seven sen easier at RM4.34 and Tenaga dropped 16 sen to RM14.16.
The FBM Emas Index slid 171.34 points to 12,095.24, the FBMT100 Index declined 170.75 points to 11,881.34, the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 156.73 points to 12,168.72, the FBM70 was 121.54 points lower at 14,622.14 and the FBM Ace Index trimmed 87.37 points to 5,233.01.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index dipped 290.09 points to 17,081.57, the Industrial Index lost 28.52 points to 3,124.18 and the Plantation Index declined 28.35 points to 7,643.39.
Main Market volume was flat at 1.28 billion shares, worth RM2.41 billion, from Monday's 1.28 billion shares worth RM1.93 billion.
Warrants volume jumped to 681.61 million units valued at RM182.80 million versus 230.07 million units valued at RM27.98 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market fell to 335.58 million shares, worth RM31.25 million, from 396.28 million shares, valued at RM69.68 million previously.
Consumer products accounted for 28.79 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (214.84 million), construction (87.70 million), trade and services (554.36 million), technology (71.06 million), infrastructure (29.75 million), SPAC (1.68 million), finance (80.01 million), hotels (675,300 million), properties (104.78 million), plantations (82.08 million), mining (57,300), REITs (1.96 million) and closed/fund (18,000). — Bernama