KUALA LUMPUR: There was a gloom over the domestic market as renewed political uncertainty sent investors packing, sending the FBM KLCI on a sharp fall.
At 12.30pm, the country’s main index dropped 14.31 points to 1,515.84, with losses in all but two of the component blue-chip counters.
Leading laggards were CIMB falling 11 sen to RM4.49, Press Metal
shedding 11 sen to RM4.93, and Top Glove skidding 10 sen to RM3.76.
According to Malacca Securities Research, developments on the political scene are contributing to volatility in the markets while the ongoing lockdown and Covid-19 status in the country continue to weigh on the local bourse.
Meanwhile, investors are looking ahead to Bank Negara’s overnight policy rate decision later today, with most expecting no changes to the lending rate.
On the broader market, top actives were Serba Dinamik lost 1.5 sen to 46.5 sen, Advance Synergy gained one sen to 17 sen and Pelangi jumped six sen to 42.5 sen.
Tech-related counters were sold down on the back of a sell-off in tech in Hong Kong.
Losers included Gentec down 96 sen to RM17.02, MPI sliding 58 sne to RM39.32, KESM shedding 20 sne to RM11 and Vitrox down 16 sen to RM15.08.
Asian markets were also in the red on Thursday as the Delta variant of the Covid virus drove global case counts higher.
In China, the main index was down 0.6% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slumped 2% on the sell-off in tech shares.
Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi each dropped 0.7% and Australia’s ASX200 rose 0.1%.
