KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): The FBM KLCI fell 40.78 points or 2.21% to close at its intraday low on foreign selling of Malaysian shares on expectation credit rating agencies may revise their ratings for the country.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd head of retail research Loui Low told theedgemarkets.com such sentiment was due to a confluence of factors, which include concerns on the nation's debt management and a possible shortfall in tax collection after the government announced that the goods and services tax rate will be reduced from 6% to 0% effective June 1 this year.

Today, Low said. “I think it is a matter of expectations versus execution now." He added that corporate results have also dampened investor sentiment.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,804.25 points. Across Bursa Malaysia, volume stood at 2.69 billion shares valued at RM3.34 billion.

Several KLCI component counters fell among Bursa Malaysia top decliners. Axiata Group Bhd fell 64 sen to RM4.43 while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd dropped 43 sen to RM6.22.

The Malaysian stock market also reflected the cautious environment across Asian equities. Such sentiment
followed news reports quoting US President Donald Trump as saying he was not pleased with the US-China trade talks.

Among Asian share markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.18% while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.26%. In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were down 1.41% and 1.82% respectively.