Investors take caution ahead of US tariffs deadline

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian stock market turned sour and the blue-chip index fell 0.8% in the early Monday session as investors turned to profit-taking ahead of the US tariffs deadline and Bank Negara rate decision this week.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 12.92 points to 1,537.27, erasing most of the gains made in the previous week as investors turned to caution amid the uncertainty.

The declining issues on the market soared to 726, dwarfing just 187 advancers at a ratio of nearly 4-to-1. Volume was 2.61 billion shares changing hands for RM1.4bil.

Blue chips weighed heavily as foreign funds, which had returned to the domestic market over the past two weeks, likely retreated amid the growing risk on equities.

PETRONAS Dagangan dropped 36 sen to RM21.20, Tenaga Nasional shed 26 sen to RM13.80 and MISC shed 15 sen to RM7.60.

YTL Power skidded 15 sen to RM3.97 while Gamuda fell 11 sen to RM4.99.

The negative performance on Bursa Malaysia was in line with the unease in Asian markets on Monday as new developments in the US tariffs saga unfolded. 

Investors were once again blindsided following the US decision to delay the implementation of tariffs while providing scant details over the changes.

Japan's Nikkei shed 0.46% to 25,492 while China's composite index slipped 0.21% to 3,464. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.45% to 23,808.

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