The Malaysia stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, giving away more than 35 points or 2.2 percent in that span. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index settled just above the 1,695-point plateau, and the market may take further damage on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fraught with concern over the health of the Chinese stock market, which has plummeted in recent weeks despite a series of market-stabilizing measures by authorities. Uncertainty regarding the Greek debt situation adds to the negative sentiment. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down, and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.
The KLCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, plantation stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index tumbled 16.47 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 1,695.83 after trading between 1,693.35 and 1,706.70. Volume was 2 billion shares worth 2.26 billion ringgit. There were 828 decliners and 117 gainers, with 215 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, CIMB Group, RHB Capital, Hong Leong Bank, Public Bank, Maybank, BAT, Petronas Gas, Petronas Dagangan, Petronas Chemicals, AirAsia, IOI Corporation, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Sime Darby, MISC, Axiata, Telekom Malaysia and Genting all ended lower.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on Wednesday after rebounding in the previous session.
The Dow tumbled 261.49 points or 1.5 percent to 17,515.42, while the NASDAQ plunged 87.70 points or 1.8 percent to 4,909.76 and the S&P 500 plummeted 34.65 points or 1.7 percent to 2,046.69.
The sell-off came as Chinese stocks extended their recent steep decline. Almost half of China's roughly 2,800 listed firms announced trading halts as increasing signs of deleveraging drove down stocks across the board. There were fears that a prolonged slump would cause systematic risk for the country's financial system.
Traders also kept an eye on the latest developments regarding the Greek debt crisis after European leaders set Sunday as the final deadline for Greece to reach an agreement on a new bailout.
Some additional negative sentiment was generated by news that the New York Stock Exchange temporarily suspended trading in all symbols due to an internal technical issue.
Closer to home, the Malaysian central bank will conclude its monetary policy meeting today and announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is tipped to keep its benchmark on hold at 3.25 percent.
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Market Analysis
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.