Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (June 21): The FBM KLCI fell below the 1,700 level for the first time since March 2017, led by the decline seen in telecommunication counters as investors anticipate possible negative impact to telco's corporate earnings with the 25% drop in broadband prices.

At 11.24 am, the KLCI was down by 10.97 points or 0.64% to 1,698.78 points.

Among the leading decliners on the benchmark index was Telekom Malaysia Bhd, which has fallen by 10.74% to RM3.24, followed by Axiata Group Bhd, down 3.89% to RM4.20, and DiGi.Com Bhd, down 2.29% to RM4.26. As of writing, Maxis Bhd also fell by 1.26% to RM5.50.

Other losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.

Following the review on the KLCI in May, YTL Corp Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd were removed from the component stocks effective this week, replaced by Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd.

The new entrants on the KLCI were also on a downtrend with Hartalega, Dialog and Malaysia Airports down by 0.34%, 0.31% and 0.11% respectively.

Only nine of the companies on the KLCI were in positive territory with 18 companies in the red and the remaining three unchanged.

Recall that the FBM KLCI was hovering close to 1,850 level prior to the Malaysia's 14th general election (GE14). It has fallen by 147.73 points or 8% since to its current level as foreign investors pulled out from the Malaysian stock market while awaiting more certainty in policy direction under the new government.

Coupled with that were the uncertainties triggered by the external environment as trade spat escalated into a potential full-blown global trade war among some of the leading global economies such as the United States, China and even the European Union.

The broader market was also dominated by decliners, which led gainers by 526 to 183. The FBMN Top 100 Index was down by 0.84% or 99.3 points to 11,769.72 while the FBM Small Cap Index fell by 1.07% or 154.36 points to 14,246.06 points.

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