Asian bourses slumped in early trade

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KUALA LUMPUR: Asian bourses slumped in morning trade on Wednesday in tandem with a dive in major US indices yesterday.

Major US share indices fell between 2.0% and 2.2% at the closing bell on concerns that US banks might be hit by deepening losses.

HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd noted that it would be a test of resilience for Malaysian stocks today as overseas equities would likely take a beating after an overnight plunge on Wall Street. It said investors’ sentiment across Asia – including Malaysia – would inevitably suffer as a result.

“On the chart, the benchmark FBM KLCI will probably challenge its immediate support level of 1,160 ahead. If and when this is broken, then the next support line stands at 1,125,” it added.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.87% to 10,228.15 and Seoul’s Kospi Index lost 1.06% to 1,605.87.

Shanghai’s A share Index slipped 0.26% to 2,676.70 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 1.15% to 2,566.52 points.

At 9.30am, the FBM KLCI was down 6.42 points to 1,164.86.

At Bursa Malaysia, 35 counters were up, 236 were down and 94 were traded unchanged. There were 53.43 million shares done at a total value of RM60.63 million.

Top losers were BAT which slipped 30 sen to RM44.70, Genting lost 11 sen to RM6.53, Tanjong fell 10 sen to RM15.34 and Bursa was down 10 sen to RM7.56.

Among the heavyweights, BCHB lost 6 sen to RM10.16, Maybank fell 4 sen to RM6.39 and Tenaga was down 1 sen to RM8.02.

Plantation stocks IOI Corp lost 3 sen to RM5.01, PPB slipped 10 sen to RM15.20 and Sime was down 6 sen to RM8.20.

Nymex crude oil rose 48 cents to US$68.53 per barrel.