Weak US Job Data Continues To Push Bursa Malaysia Lower At Midafternoon

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 (Bernama) -- The weak United States (US) jobs data has continued to push  Bursa Malaysia lower at mid-afternoon, in tandem with the sharp downtrend in the regional bourses, especially the Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index.

At the time of writing, Japan's stock market plunged 4,451.28 points or 12.40 per cent in trading on Monday to 31,458.42, more than the drop recorded in 1987.

 Back home, at 3 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 63.36 points to 1,547.69 from Friday's close of 1,611.05.

The index opened 17.69 points weaker at 1,593.36.

On the broader market, losers beat gainers 1,609 to 68, with 125 counters unchanged, 603 untraded and eight others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 6.20 billion units worth RM4.68 billion.

According to Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong, the rise in the US unemployment rate to 4.3 per cent in July 2024 versus 4.1 per cent in June 2024 has been triggering concerns over the rise in recession risks.

Other regional peers, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 2.10 per cent to 16,590.20, South Korea’s Kospi Index tumbled by 8.77 per cent to 2,441.55 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index was weaker by 4.71 per cent to 3,222.11.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s IDX Composite Index decreased 3.53 per cent to 7,050.15 and China’s SSE Composite Index also eased 1.24 per cent to 2,869.19.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank lost 25 sen to RM9.99, Public Bank was down 10 sen to RM4.18, Tenaga Nasional dropped 66 sen to RM13.30, CIMB shed 38 sen to RM7.02 and IHH Healthcare slid 13 sen to RM6.12. 

Of the actives, Pegasus Heights was unchanged at one sen, while Velesto Energy declined 2.5 sen to 19 sen, MYEG edged down 12.5 sen to 84.5 sen, WCT Holdings shed 14.5 sen to 97.5 sen and Top Glove gave up 10 sen to 88 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index tumbled 598.05 points to 11,705.45, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 548.97 points to 11,370.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 680.76 points to 11,767.39, the FBM ACE Index shrank 463.03 points to 5,007.38, and the FBM 70 Index slumped 1,119.99 points to 16,782.81.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index was 70.44 points lower at 858.71, the Financial Services Index shaved off 578.41 points to 17,653.18, the Plantation Index decreased 236.18 points to 6,907.43 and the Industrial Products and Services Index retreated 13.19 points to 172.31.

-- BERNAMA