Asian equities slid, heading for their worst day in a month, dragged lower by a late selloff in Chinese stocks as regulators moved to shrink the size of a popular quantitative trading strategy. The local benchmark FBMKLCI (KLCI) gave up13.21pts or 0.85% to end the day at 1,545.59. It was a sea of red across the board with utilities (-2.58%), construction (-1.08%) and industrial products (-1.04%) topping the decliners chart. Trading volume surged to 4.78bn (up from 3.88bn on Tuesday) while trading value climbed to RM3.30bn (higher from RM3.09bn previously). Market breadth remained negative for a fourth consecutive day as 780 decliners thumped 311 winners.

The benchmark recorded a long black candle yesterday, forming an inside day in the process. The bears closed the door shut yesterday, eliminating the bullishness of the previous day’s long white candle. Expect the benchmark to stay in consolidation again today, targeting a move below 1,542. The rising trend line currently sits at 1,540 may also act as support in the near term. The support at 1,534-1,538 would act as a last line of defense for the bulls in the near term. Once this consolidation is done, we believe that there is another leg up to retest the 1,570-1,583 levels next. Our portfolio stays in *risk-on mode* this week.

Gainers: 311
Losers: 780
Unchanged: 404

DOW: 38,949.02 (-0.06%)
S&P500: 5,069.76 (-0.17%)
NASDAQ: 15,947.74 (-0.55%)
FTSE100: 7,624.98 (-0.76%)
DAX: 17,601.22 (0.25%)
HSI: 16,536.85 (-1.51%)
STI: 3,138.93 (-0.58%)
KLCI: 1,545.59 (-0.85%)

USD: 4.7710 (0.21%)
AUD: 3.0967 (-0.75%)
SGD: 3.5416 (-0.07%)
EUR: 5.1527 (-0.28%)
GBP: 6.0237 (-0.29%)
JPY: 3.1673 (0.12%)
CNY: 0.6628 (0.21%)
HKD: 0.6095 (0.16%)

WTI: 78.54 (-0.42%)
Brent: 83.26 (-0.02%)
GOLD: 2,034.55 (0.20%)
3rd MONTH FCPO: 3,907.00 (-0.38%)
Msia 10 yr bond yield: 3.8770 (0.10%)
US 10 yr bond yield: 4.2639 (-0.91%0
ICE LIBOR USD 3M: 5.6048 (0.10%)
Bitcoin Futures: 60,870 (5.64%)
Source: Bloomberg