Bursa Malaysia ends lowest in 5 months

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) continued its decline, closing to 1,393.83 points today, the lowest since October last year.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 28 points or 1.97%, hitting a five-month low of 1,393.83 from yesterday's close of 1,421.83.

The steady decline in the last five days has been attributed to the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the US.

Losers led gainers 878 to 180, while 296 counters were unchanged, 893 untraded and 11 others suspended. Turnover amounted to 3.38 billion units worth RM2.5 billion. 

Maybank lost 10 sen to RM8.34, Public Bank dropped 13 sen to RM3.88, LIMB by 16 sen to RM5.17, Petronas Chemicals by 15 sen to RM6.95, and TNB by 5 sen to RM9.27. 

An analyst said Bursa Malaysia would remain volatile until the US Federal Reserve makes a decision next week. 

"However, with the collapse of SVB, the Fed may reduce the rate hike (to 25 bps) or temporarily pause the rate hike. Markets are still digesting the broader backdrop of restrictive Fed policy and a softening economic and corporate earnings outlook, making equities more vulnerable to knee-jerk reactions to shocks like this," he told Bernama.