Another day of woes in the local market

On Monday, the FBM KLCI fell in line with global market sentiment. The index fell 0.97 percent, or 15.16 points, to 1,549.18, led by losers PCHEM, PMETAL, and SIMEPLT. The market breadth was negative, with 827 decliners outnumbering 183 advancers.

Total volume was 3.22 billion shares worth RM2.03 billion. Key regional indices have generally entered a bear market, with the exception of the SHCOMP, which rose 0.09 percent to close at 3,004.14. The Nikkei 225 dropped 2.53 percent to 26,319.34. The HSI fell 3.81 percent to 20,001.96. The STI fell 0.60 percent to 3,272.30.

Wall Street fell as higher US Treasury yields weighed on investor sentiment. The DJIA and S&P500 fell 1.99 percent and 3.20 percent, respectively, to close at 32,245.70 and 3,991.24, respectively. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell 4.29 percent.

Drastic sell-off on US equities continued as overall sentiments turned jittery attributed to prevailing
tightening policy by the Federal Reserves.

As a result, the DJI Average declined by 654 points while the Nasdaq dipped 521 points despite the US 10-year yield eased marginally to 3.03%.

The local market

As for the local bourse, the FBM KLCI closed lower to below the 1,550 level yesterday due to continuous selling by foreign funds.

“Though we expect some bargain hunting to emerge, overall sentiments remain cautious over the
heightened volatility on regional markets,” says Rakuten.

“Therefore, we reckon the index to trend within the 1,540-1,555 range today. Meanwhile, crude oil prices declined as outlook remains cloudy due to the lockdowns in China coupled with EU’s move to embargo Russian oil that is still unclear.”