KUALA LUMPUR: It’s a sea of red on Bursa Malaysia, with over 800 counters ended in red as heavy selling bash down blue chips and small-cap stocks.

       At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 11.99 points or 0.75% to 1,589.98, its intraday low. Turnover stood at 3.13 billion shares valued at RM2.63bil.

       Market breadth turned negative as losers overpowered the gainers on a ratio of 876-to-236 stocks.

       Dealers said the market would remain cautious given the increasing volatility and market risk, although bargain hunting may emerge as well.

       In today’s session, the KLCI-component stocks were overwhelmingly negative, with 25 losers and four gainers while one closed unchanged.

       Nestle shed RM1.20 to RM132.50, Petronas Dagangan fell 84 sen to RM21.08, Hong Leong Financial Group eased 32 sen to RM19.28 and Press Metal lost 26 sen to RM6.17.

       Kuala Lumpur Kepong surged RM1 to RM29, IOI Corp added 30 sen to RM4.73, PPB Group gained 12 sen to RM17.22 and Sime Darby Plantation climbed nine sen to RM5.34.

       On the broader market, Malaysian Pacific Industries fell 82 sen to RM31, Aeon Credit lost 50 sen to RM15.08 and Heineken eased 48 sen to RM23.52.

       Meanwhile, Reuters reported that oil prices slumped to about two-week lows on Monday as concerns grew that prolonged Covid-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and potential U.S. rate hikes would hurt global economic growth and demand for fuel.

       Brent crude futures were down US$5.08 to US$101.57 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell US$4.86 to US$97.21 per barrel.

       On the regional front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.75%.

       China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 5.13% at 2,928.51, and the CSI300 index slipped 4.94% to 3,814.91.

       Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 3.73% to 19,869.34.

       Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index ended 1.9% lower at 26,590.78 and South Korea's Kospi closed down 1.76%, at 2,657.13.