KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI bucked the regional trend once again as it dipped in morning trade even as key regional markets resumed their uptrend by midday after a slow opening.
Japan's Nikkei traded relatively flat as it looks to post a 14th straight day of gains.
At 12.30pm, the KLCI was 0.29 points lower at 1,743.70 points. Turnover was 1.38 billion shares with a value of RM637.38mil. There were 310 decliners to 259 advancers and 533 counters unchanged.
Heavyweights Maybank took points off the index, falling four sen to RM9.31.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong dropped two sen to RM16 and Public Bank shaved two sen to RM20.46. Ambank fell three sen to RM4.45 while RHB was unchanged at RM4.99. CIMB added one sen to RM6.19.
Genting also weighed on the KLCI, falling 10 sen to RM9.50. Genting Malaysia, however, rose one sen to RM5.25.
In telcos, Axiata dipped three sen to RM5.15, Maxis dropped three sen to RM5.71 and Digi rose five sen to RM4.82. Telekom Malaysia put on four sen to RM6.13.
Amoung Petronas-related counters, Petronas Gas put on 16 sen to RM18.14, while Petronas Chemicals was unchanged at RM7.54 and Petronas Dagangan remained at RM24.20.
Plantations counter Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined eight sen to RM24.30 while IOI was unmoved at RM4.49 and Sime Darby rose two sen to RM9.06.
On the broader market, rubber glove manufacturer Top Glove continued its winning ways, adding 25 sen to RM6.65. Another top gainer was IQ Group, which took on 28 sen to RM3.20.
Selangor Properties added seven sen to RM4.77 while Triplc added 11 sen to RM2.02
Among the top decliners, Amway lost 20 sen to RM7.19, Success Transformer dipped 16 sen to RM3.30 and Chin Tek Plantations shaved off 34 sen to RM7.66.
In commodities, oil prices rose on Friday amid tightening supply. US light crude rose 21 cents to US$51.50 a barrel and Brent Crude added 16 cents to US$57.39 a barrel.
On the forex market, the ringgit weakened 0.06% against a firmer dollar at 4.2260. It strengthened 0.34% against the pound sterling at 5.5380 and strengthened 0.09% against the Singapore dollar at 3.1083.
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