File pic of a man looking at electronic display boards showing global stock market indicies at the stock exchange in Kuala Lumpur. – EPA
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s stock market and key regional bourses skidded in early Monday trade after Greeks voted not to accept bailout conditions set by creditors.
The ringgit fell to a 16 year low of 3.8056 against the US dollar , the weakest in 16 years. The ringgit was pegged at 3.80 to the US dollar in 1998 during the Asian Financial Crisis and unpegged in July 2005.
At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI was down 26.94 points or 1.55% to 1,707.30. Turnover was 202.70 million shares valued at RM68.21mil. Decliners hammered advancers more than seven to one with 372 losers to 53 gainers.
Greeks overwhelmingly rejected conditions of a rescue package from creditors on Sunday, throwing the future of the country's euro zone membership into further doubt and deepening a standoff with lenders, Reuters reported.
The Greek voters’ rejection of austerity coursed through financial markets Monday, as Asian stocks and U.S. index futures slipped with the euro and crude oil amid flight to the safest assets. Chinese index futures jumped after the country stepped up efforts to arrest an equity selloff, Bloomberg reported.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1%, with Japanese and Korean gauges falling more than 1%. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures slid 1.2%. The euro was down 0.6 percent versus the dollar, paring an earlier drop of as much as 1.3% as high-yielding currencies declined while the yen advanced.
At Bursa Malaysia, Petronas Gas fell 50 sen to RM21 and Petronas Dagangan 40 sen to RM20.40 while Tenaga lost 22 sen to RM12.46.
UMW was down 30 sen to RM10.06, IJM 22 sen to RM6.59 and HLFG 38 sen to RM15.02.
Among the plantations, PPB Group lost 24 sen to RM14.96.
As for consumer stocks, Dutch Lady lost 26 sen to RM45.50 but F&N added 14 sen to RM18.20,
Pos Malaysia jumped 12 sen to RM4.38.
