Bursa Malaysia tumbles as over 1,000 stocks sink amid heavy selling

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia slumped on Tuesday under heavy selling pressure, with decliners overwhelming gainers by over seven to one, reflecting weak market sentiment following the implementation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The FBM KLCI was down for the fourth straight day, tumbling 15.73 points, or 1%, to close at 1,555.66, slightly above its intraday low of 1,555.04. It hit an intraday high of 1,564.26. All indices ended the day in negative territory.

In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers, with 1,044 stocks ending lower and 147 finishing higher. That gave a market breadth of 0.14, indicating the bears were in firm control.

About 3.84 billion shares, valued at RM3.04bil, changed hands.

Among FBM KLCI constituents, 23 counters closed lower, outpacing five gainers, while two remained unchanged.

Malaysian Pacific Industries, the biggest loser on Bursa Malaysia, tumbled RM1.62 to RM17.04. Nestle slid RM1 to RM79.12, Dutch Lady declined 90 sen to RM27.60 and F&N lost 58 sen to RM25.04.

Among the gainers, Lebtech rose 20 sen to 78 sen, NationGate added 15 sen to RM1.45, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 14 sen to RM20.60 and HeiTech Padu climbed 11 sen to RM2.71.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.35%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended down 1.2% at 37,331.18, while South Korea’s Kospi finished 0.15% lower at 1,555.04.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed up 0.28% at 22,941.77 and China’s blue-chip CSI 300 index fell 0.08% at 3,885.22.