BURSA Malaysia extended its losses to open lower today, as Malaysian equities were not spared from a global meltdown linked to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 22.83 points or 1.54% to 1,459.81 from last Friday’s close of 1,482.64.

This was the lowest level last seen on November 29, 2011, when Bursa’s key index closed at 1,444.72.

At the opening bell, the FBM KLCI opened 11.30 points easier at 1,471.34.

Losers led gainers by 329 to 108 on the broader market, with 150 counters unchanged, 1,411 untraded and 18 others suspended. 

Turnover amounted to 345.71 million shares worth RM197.31 million.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors turned risk-off mode after Wall Street fell to its biggest weekly declines since October 2008, last week, over escalating Covid-19 fears.

“The stimulus package valued at RM20 billion failed to cushion the sell-down. 

“In the meantime, the exodus of foreign funds from Malaysia equities also compounded to further weakness across Malaysian equities and we expect the situation will not turnaround any sooner,” it said.

With no signs of recovery, Malacca Securities expected volatility to persist as the key index that closed at multi-year low continued the downward momentum.

Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank slipped 22 sen to RM8.20, Public Bank erased 74 sen to RM16.36, IHH eased four sen to RM5.66, CIMB was 13 sen lower at RM4.69 while Tenaga was 18 sen better at RM12.28.

Of the actives, Eden rose 13 sen to 32.5 sen, MyEG added nine sen to RM1.21, Datasonic was 13 sen higher at RM1.20, while Sapura Energy lost 1.5 sen to 17 sen and Iris inched down one sen to 12 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 147.28 points to 10,33148, the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 84.20 points to 11,036.95 while the FBMT 100 Index gave up 147.95 points to 10,152.85.

The FBM 70 weakened 140.99 points to 12,732.93 and the FBM Ace retreated 111.07 points to 5,127.22. – Bernama, March 2, 2020.