KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss upon resuming trade in the afternoon session today after losing some RM96 billion in market capitalisation this morning, when it slumped as much as 7% or 89.11 points to a low of 1,330.32.

At 2.45pm, the FBM KLCI was down 63.72 points to 1,355.71.

Losers led gainers by 887 to 116, while 326 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 3.82 billion shares valued at RM3.06 billion.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd and KESM Industries Bhd.

Bloomberg said Asian stocks pared losses following the worst Wall Street session since 1987, as US futures pushed higher.

Still, most benchmarks remained in the red, with investors spooked that emergency fiscal and monetary packages won’t be enough to stave off a recession, it said.