KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended the week slightly higher, in line with regional indices despite the weaker performance on Wall Street overnight. At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI rose 2.12 points or 0.14 per cent to 1,512.15 from Thursday’s close of 1,510.03. The market bellwether opened 10.08 points lower at 1,499.95, and moved between 1,493.29 and 1,516.25 throughout the day. On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers with 680 to 292, while 437 counters were unchanged, 1,009 untraded, and 13 suspended. Turnover was marginally lower at 3.24 billion units worth RM2.5 billion from 3.25 billion units worth RM2.90 billion on Thursday.
Wall Street took a heavy hit on Monday, with the Nasdaq leading the decline, falling nearly 4% as recession fears and President Trump’s trade battles sent stocks tumbling.
Market Performance:
- Nasdaq: Down 726.16 points (-3.99%), hitting 17,470.06—its worst single-day loss since September 2022.
- S&P 500: Dropped 153.8 points (-2.7%) to 5,616.4.
- DJIA: Fell as much as 1,188.8 points, ending down 89.01 points (-2%) at 41,911.71.
Recession Fears Dominate:
The sell-off was fueled by concerns that President Trump's tariff disputes with countries like Mexico, Canada, and China could trigger a U.S. recession—something the president did not rule out during a Fox News interview. Trump's comments followed the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow tool, which estimates the U.S. economy could shrink by 2.4% in Q1 2025.
As investors moved away from riskier assets, Bitcoin saw a drop, falling 4.9% to $78,669, taking down several crypto-related stocks.
Sector Impact:
The "Magnificent Seven" stocks, which have been market leaders, all suffered losses:
- Tesla: Dropped 15.4%
- Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Alphabet also saw declines as part of the broader market sell-off.
Notable Decliners:
- Intuitive Machines: Fell 22.7% after its lunar lander malfunctioned on the Moon.
- Strategy: Down 16.7% as Bitcoin dropped and the company announced plans to issue $21 billion in new preferred shares.
- Coinbase: Plummeted 17.6% amid the weakness in Bitcoin.
- Reddit: Sank 20.2% amid weakness in social media stocks.
Notable Gainers:
- Redfin: Soared 67.9% after Rocket Companies announced a $1.75 billion takeover bid.
- WK Kellogg: Rose 9.6% as investors flocked to non-cyclical stocks amid economic uncertainty.
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