KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): The FBM KLCI remained in the red at mid-afternoon alongside Asian equities, as rising US government bond yields at above 3% hit world markets.
   
The KLCI was down 14.1 points or 0.8% at 1,851.24 at 3:02pm. At 3:24pm, the KLCI was traded at 1,852.28. 

Bursa Malaysia small-cap stocks fell by a larger quantum. At 3:19pm, the small-cap index was down 167.48 points or 1.15% at 14,401.07.

A dealer based here told theedgemarkets.com that “it is a bad day for the stock market, whether you are trading in the US, Hong Kong, China, emerging markets, because everywhere is in red, as investors are afraid of how the bond market will hurt the stock market, now that it hit the key (3% yield) level.”

Reuters reported creeping gains in U.S. Treasury yields are fuelling fears portfolio managers may move money into safer fixed-income securities, at the expense of riskier assets like stocks and emerging markets. The 10-year yield, a benchmark for global borrowing costs, has been driven steadily higher by a combination of concerns over inflation, growing debt supply and rising Federal Reserve borrowing costs.

It was reported that the 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield rose to as high as 3.009%. A break of its January 2014 high of 3.041% could turn investors even more bearish.