Malaysia's Bursa Falls as Oil Prices Plunge Amid US-Iran Tensions
The Bursa Malaysia's FBM KLCI index fell slightly on Tuesday due to a broader regional pullback, triggered by plummeting oil prices and a joint intervention by the US and Japan to halt the yen's decline.
Brent crude futures prices dropped 7.5% to $83.39 a barrel after US President Donald Trump announced he was calling off an attack on Iran, affecting stocks like PETRONAS Chemicals, which fell 15 sen to RM4.63, and PETRONAS Gas, which shed eight sen to RM17.46.
Nestle, however, bucked the trend by jumping RM1.80 to RM102.90, as investors remained optimistic about its quarterly earnings announced last week.
The broader market sentiment was negative, with 524 declining issues compared to 413 gainers, and a trading volume of 1.56 billion shares changing hands at RM1.1bil.