KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index closed lower today, in line with most regional markets, as investors adjusted their risk exposure amid spiralling oil prices driven by the ongoing West Asia conflict, now in its second month. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) retreated by 24.75 points or 1.44 per cent to 1,687.90 from Friday’s close of 1,712.65. The market bellwether opened 10.57 points weaker at 1,702.08 and fluctuated between 1,682.79 and 1,702.38. The broader market was bearish, with decliners thumping advancers 956 to 371. A total of 373 counters were unchanged, 1,042 untraded and 134 suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.98 billion units worth RM4.85 billion from last Friday’s 2.97 billion units worth RM3.25 billion.
Wall Street might not like 2016. It already seem like it. Another Friday free fall...and there goes the short winning streak in this week.
The market was hit badly with disappointing jobs report. Nasdaq composite fall to its lowest level in more than 15 months.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which had patched together two straight days of gains, was down 211.61 points, or 1.3%, to 16,204.97. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was down 35.40 points, or 1.9%, to 1880.05.
The real carnage was in the Nasdaq, which tumbled 146.41 points, or 3.3%. to 4363.14 -- its lowest close since Oct. 20, 2014.
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| The downtrend seems like something that continue |
The market was hit badly with disappointing jobs report. Nasdaq composite fall to its lowest level in more than 15 months.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which had patched together two straight days of gains, was down 211.61 points, or 1.3%, to 16,204.97. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was down 35.40 points, or 1.9%, to 1880.05.
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| Nasdaq tumbled 3.3% |
The real carnage was in the Nasdaq, which tumbled 146.41 points, or 3.3%. to 4363.14 -- its lowest close since Oct. 20, 2014.
And for the week, the Nasdaq posted more than 5% loss. The Dow dropped about 1.6% and S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%.
The release of a weak January jobs report, pointing to a possible downshift in the U.S economy. This adds to the uncertainty to Federal Reserve interest rate policy. The new jobs created last month was reported at 151,000, below the 190,000 that economists forecast.
The unemployment rate ticked lower to an eight-year low of 4.9%, down from 5% in December. The job count in November was revised up 28,000 to 280,000, but the blockbuster December jobs report was downgraded 30,000 to 262,000. Another key data point was the 0.5% rise in average hourly wages.
The jobs report comes amid another tough quarter for U.S. corporate earnings, with fourth-quarter 2015 profits on track to contract more than 4%. A slowdown in overall economic growth is also worrying investors.
Wall Street was also digesting more volatile price swings in the oil patch Friday, with a barrel of U.S.-produced crude trading as high as $32.45 and as low as $30.92 a barrel. At 2 p.m. ET, oil was down nearly 2% to $31.10.
European stocks were lower as the broad Stoxx Europe 600 finished down 0.9%. The German DAX closed 1.1% lower and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.7%.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 in Japan closed down for a fourth straight session, falling 1.3%. Stocks in Hong Kong rose 0.6% and shares of the Shanghai composite in mainland China dipped 0.7%.
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