U.S investors lost RM2.4 trillion overnight !

Malaysian stocks went into a virtual free-fall in the first few hours of trading this morning, amid a global sell-off and political worries. At 11.30am, the KLCI was down 36.92 points to 966.07 points. Turnover was at 174.049 million shares valued at RM379.508 million.

Blue chips led the fall in early trade as the KLCI plunged below the psychological 1,000 points level within minutes of trade this morning.

Across Asia, most key indices also saw heavy retreating, as Asia awoke to news that the Dow had fallen almost 450 points while the Nasdaq fell nearly 5 per cent in the worst day of trading since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.

Global investors have been shaken, as worries mount over the global credit crisis, whose latest victim was the storied Lehman Brothers.

The KLCI, hit by the double whammy of a global credit crunch and local political uncertainties, has already fallen by nearly 31 per cent this year.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index was down 3.2 per cent at 11,375.57 after sinking to a new intraday low for the year during the morning session.

Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng Index tanked 847.54 points, or 4.9 per cent, to 16,805 points. Markets in South Korea, Australia and mainland China also were sharply lower.

The losses tracked US markets, where the Dow Jones industrial average fell about 450 points, or 4.06 per cent, to 10,609.66. Investors were unnerved by the Federal Reserve's US$85 billion loan to AIG, the giant US insurer that lost billions in the risky business of insuring against bond defaults.

"It's a complete collapse of confidence," said Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities Ltd in Hong Kong. "The financial crisis in the US is hitting everyone, everyone is running for cover. If the largest insurance company can fail, than no one is safe."

Banking stocks across Asian went into a tailspin.

Japan's three megabanks fell hard: Mizuho Financial Group, Inc sank 7.2 per cent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc shed 4.6 per cent, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group retreated 7.4 per cent.

Macquarie Group Ltd, Australia's biggest investment bank and securities firm, lost 16 per cent.

Leading China lender Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, or ICBC, fell over 5 per cent in Hong Kong.

In currencies, the greenback was trading lower against the yen at 104.48. — Agencies