KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 23): The weaker than expected preliminary Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers index, coupled with the overnight declines in US stocks, continue to weigh on the local equities market.
At 3.03pm, the FBM KLCI was down 22.11 points or 1.35% to 1,613.26 points.
Market sentiment is bearish, with 506 decliners versus 226 advancers, while 247 counters remained unchanged.
At 3.04pm, some 1.23 billion shares worth RM1.23 billion have changed hands.
RHB group chief economist Lim Chee Seng said the key index was mainly dragged down by global factors, such as the Chinese Caixin data and the lower overnight Dow Jones index.
"The two major negative factors continue to reinforce each other and weighed down the regional market," he said.
The Caixin data, he said, fell to a new six-and-a-half-year low in September, indicating that there may be the start of a recession in China.
"Given the current headwinds, it is very difficult to be optimistic in the immediate near term," he said, adding the key index is likely to stay range-bound with a downward bias.
Meanwhile, the KLCI futures contracts were also on the decline. FKLI spot month fell 15 points to trade at 1,617 points, while the October contracts fell 16 points to 1,603 points, signalling that the market is likely to remain bearish in the near term.
"The first resistance can be found at 1,654 to 1,656. The second resistance can be found at 1,673.
"The first support can be found at 1,597 to 1,602, while the second support can be found at 1,580," said Oriental Pacific Futures in a report today.
Key indexes in the region were also on the decline. At 2.20pm, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.58%, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.89%.
Japan's Nikkei 225, however, is closed for public holidays until tomorrow.