Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index fell over 1% in early trade, tracking a regional sell-off as escalating Middle East tensions intensified risk-off sentiment.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened sharply lower on Monday, with the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) falling more than 1% as escalating Middle East conflict fears triggered a broad regional sell-off.

At 9.20am, the FBM KLCI was down 20.10 points, or 1.17%, at 1,696.51, having opened 27.97 points lower at 1,688.64. Market breadth was overwhelmingly negative, with 778 losers outnumbering 150 gainers, while 233 counters were unchanged.

Turnover stood at 718.25 million shares worth RM514.99 million. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said risk-off sentiment had intensified following recent incidents in the Middle East and expects global markets to pull back in the near term.

The brokerage noted that rising geopolitical tensions have prompted higher crude oil prices, which benefit upstream oil and gas players. It added that the US-Malaysia interest rate differential may support banking and REITs, while decent prospective dividend yields are expected to provide a buffer against near-term volatility.

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell 32 sen to RM11.64 and Public Bank declined 12 sen to RM4.81. CIMB shed 11 sen to RM7.93 and Hong Leong Bank lost 26 sen to RM23.02, while Press Metal rose six sen to RM7.19.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 142.70 points to 12,291.12 and the FBM Emas Index fell 142.56 points to 12,468.87. The Financial Services Index retreated 411.40 points to 20,670.40, while the Energy Index rose 19.61 points to 773.35.

 The Sun Malaysia