KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI remained slightly lower amid the continued profit-taking on the market and as global economic woes weighed.
At 12.30pm, the key index was down 2.95 points to 1,513.67. There were 374 gainers compared with 342 decliners for an overall negative market breadth.
Trading volume stood at 1.21 billion shares valued at RM794.77mil.
Most blue chips took a step back with banks stocks leading the fall.
Maybank dropped three sen to RM8.92, Public Bank slid one sne to RM4.64, CIMB shed two sen to RM5.45 and Hong Leong Bank fell four sen to RM20.82.
Among telcos, Digi lost four sen to RM3.71, Axiata shed six sen to RM3.06 and Maxis dropped four sen to RM3.90.
Press Metal
was a rare gainer, jumping 14 sen to RM4.89.
On the actives list, Agmo continued to top trading volume with 54.61 million shares exchanging hands.The stock rose 2.5 sen to 81 sen.
Hartalega was also heavily traded, rising four sen to RM1.84 as its rebound picked up steam after recent losses.
In Asia, investor confidence was rattled by signs of recession in Europe and a slowdown in China’s economy.
Japan’s Nikkei was flat at 28,938, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.3% to 2,501 and China’s composite index was unchanged at 3,277.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.45% to 19,852 while Australia’s ASX200 was flat at 7,111.