Kuala Lumpur (NewsRise) - Malaysian shares fell for the fourth consecutive session Monday, as investors sold risk assets in the aftermath of deadly terror attacks in Paris late last week.
The nation's benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ended 0.18% lower at 1,656 points, its lowest level since October 5. It had fallen as much as 0.88% earlier. The index declined 1.6% last week and it has fallen 6% so far in 2015.
Gaming conglomerate Genting and oil company SapuraKencana Petroleum were among the major contributors to weakness in the index, while CIMB Group Holdings and YTL Corp rose after last week's declines.
Most regional curriencies and stock indexes took a hit after a series of coordinated attacks on the French capital late Friday.
The ringgit fell 0.25% to 4.38 against the dollar, also its lowest level since October 5. The currency fell 1.5% last week, its fifth consecutive weekly decline. The MSCI broadest measure of Asia-Pacific shares index fell to its lowest level in a month.
"Emerging markets could see a knee-jerk reaction and a near term sell off after that has transpired in Paris," said Vincent Loo Yeong Hong, an economist at RHB Research Institute. "However, we do not see the incidents as having any significant impact on global consumer spending in the medium term and global asset markets should stabilise after the initial move lower."
Southeast Asian markets declined. Philippine's PSE Composite Index slumped 1.81% to a three-month low, while Indonesia's Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 0.69% to a one-month low. Singapore's Strait Times index declined 0.22%.
Thailand's SET index, however, rose 0.20 % after the nation's gross domestic product growth came in at a better-than expected 1% quarter-on-quarter.
Broader Asian stocks declined, led by a 1.72% fall in Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and a 1.58% slump in South Korea's Kospi. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed lower by 1.04%. Japan's economy slipped back into recession with third-quarter GDP shrinking 0.8% year-on-year, data showed.
Source: http://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Equities/Shares-ringgit-fall-to-over-1-month-lows-after-Paris-attacks
