The losing streak has reached five sessions for the Malaysia stock market, which has skidded more than 50 points or 3 percent along the way. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now rests just above the 1,690-point plateau and it's in line for further consolidation on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative thanks to geopolitical concerns and poor earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and telecom stocks.
For the day, the index sank 7.56 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 1,690.04 after trading between 1,689.53 and 1,706.18. Volume was 2.3 billion shares worth 1.9 billion ringgit. There were 620 decliners and 245 gainers.
Among the actives, Sime Darby plummeted 4.35 percent, while Digi.com plunged 3.55 percent, Telekom Malaysia tumbled 2.63 percent, Axiata spiked 2.46 percent, IHH Healthcare skidded 1.41 percent, Genting Malaysia jumped 1.36 percent, Tenaga Nasional dropped 1.28 percent, Dialog Group declined 0.88 percent, CIMB Group retreated 0.87 percent, Genting added 0.27 percent, Maybank shed 0.21 percent, Public Bank lost 0.08 percent and IOI Corporation, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Petronas Chemicals were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is poor as stocks moved sharply lower on Wednesday. The Dow dropped to its lowest closing level in over three-months, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 tumbled to five-month closing lows.
The Dow shed 608.01 points or 2.41 percent to 24,583.42, while the NASDAQ plummeted 329.14 points or 4.43 percent to 7,108.40 and the S&P 500 fell 84.59 points or 3.09 percent to 2,656.10.
The selling pressure on Wall Street reflected another negative reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from several big-name companies such as AT&T (T) and UPS (UPS).
Negative sentiment was also generated by a Commerce Department report showing a steep drop in new home sales in September.
News that explosive devices were sent to several prominent Democratic figures, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, may also have led to some uneasiness on Wall Street.
Crude oil prices rebounded a bit on Wednesday, after having plunged sharply in the previous session amid concerns over weakening demand. Crude oil futures for December settled at $66.82 a barrel, gaining $0.39 or 0.6 percent for the session.
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