KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): The FBM KLCI took a beating and plunged some 7.16% at mid-morning, tracking the meltdown at most global markets as panic selling prevailed.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI lost 94.91 points to 1,324.52.

Losers thumped gainers by 951 to 57, while 114 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.49 billion shares valued at RM1.07 billion.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd.

The actives included Vortex Consolidated Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, My EG Services Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, JAKS Resources Bhd, Datasonic Group Bhd, Tiger Synergy Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd.

The gainers were mainly Malaysia-listed Hang Seng Index-linked put warrants.

Reuters said Asia's stock markets were hammered on Friday as panic gripping world financial markets deepened and even safe-haven assets such as gold and bonds were ditched to cover losses in the wipeout.

Australia's benchmark fell as much as 7% and is on track for its worst week on record. New Zealand's index was last down more than 8%, its biggest ever intraday drop, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said despite the US Federal Reserve and President Donald Trump calming the markets with some measures, investors remain negative on the global economic outlook amid the Covid-19 pandemic situation and are likely to further offload as Wall Street is in the bear territory at this juncture.

“Hence, we think the Dow could revisit the range around 18,000-20,000.

“Tracking the sharp negative decline on Wall Street, coupled with the rapid increase of confirmed Covid-19 cases outside of China, we believe market participants will look further into selling opportunities on the local front.

“Upside on the KLCI should be capped along 1,440, while support is anchored around 1,400,” it said.