Wall St tumble sends Bursa, Asian markets lower

KUALA LUMPUR: The overnight tumble on Wall Street saw key Asian markets and Bursa Malaysia posting losses on worries about the widening impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus on the economy.

At 9.14am, the FBM KLCI was down 8.76 points or 0.59% to 1,482.27. Turnover was 234.62 million shares valued at RM107.11mil. There were 104 gainers, 252 losers and 165 counters unchanged.

Asian shares fell after another Wall Street rout as disruptions to global business from the coronavirus beyond China worsened, stoking fears of a prolonged world economic slowdown, Reuters reported.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5%. Australian shares fell 1.86%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 1.45%.

S&P Global Ratings said growth across Asia-Pacific will slow to 4.0% in 2020, the lowest since the Global Financial Crisis, due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

“A U-shaped recovery should start later in 2020 but by then overall economic damage is likely to reach US$211bil, ” according to an article S&P Global Ratings published titled “Covid-19 now threatens more damage to Asia-Pacific.”

Meanwhile, Rakuten trade research said US markets remain volatile as wide swings between 1,000 point is becoming a norm recently suggesting mixed signals and expectations.

The US 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1% to a record low as investors look for safe haven.

Hence, it expected regional markets to be in the red, taking their cue from the US markets.

As for Bursa, Rakuten expects the KLCI to remain range bound within 1,480 to 1,500 level.

“There are ample opportunities for investors for deep value rebound play on oversold stocks such as Genting Malaysia,” it said.

At Bursa on Thursday, foreign funds extended their selling with net selling at -RM174.2mil but local institutions were net buyers at RM152.5mil and retail investors at a slower pace of RM21.7mil.

Carlsberg fell 40 sen to RM29.48 and Heineken 12 sen to RM24.52 while BAT shed 10 sen to RM12.52 and Ajinomoto 10 sen to RM14.20.

Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank lost 14 sen to RM15.50 and Public Bank 12 sen to RM17.88.

Petronas Gas lost 16 sen to RM16.20, Hap Seng 13 sen to RM9.32 and MAHB nine sen to RM6.13. Scientex fell 15 sen to RM9.

On a brighter note, United Plantations rose 38 sen to RM26.50, UWC 14 sen to RM2.78, Pentamaster nine sen to RM5.01 and Top Glove nine sen to RM5.82.

Source: TheStar