A view of the bursa stock market exchange board in RHB Investment Bank in Kuala Lumpur February 6, 2018. — Picture Ahmad Zamzahuri

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — It was a pretty bad day for Asian stock markets. For Malaysia, it was even worse.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index plunged as much as 3.7 per cent, with losses snowballing after the midday break. The gauge headed for its biggest single-day slump since October 2008 as of 4.09pm local time, with declines surpassing those of all other national benchmarks in the region. Malaysian markets were shut yesterday for a holiday.

Builders suffered the brunt of the selling as Gamuda Bhd. sank as much as 27 per cent after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government would cancel a proposed multibillion-dollar, high-speed railway link to Singapore and the third phase of a mass rapid transit line in Kuala Lumpur. Banks also suffered, with Malayan Banking Bhd down 4.5 per cent amid a sector selloff.

The Malaysian index, which only last month traded at a record, is now down more than 9 per cent from its peak as traders adjust to a new political environment. Foreign investors have fled the nation’s stocks, pulling money every single day this month — a streak unseen since the selloff of August 2015. — Bloomberg