KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI remained slightly lower on Wednesday as investors continued to nibble on profits following strong advances over the previous week.
Investors have been looking towards a potential rate cut by the US Federal Reserve although chairman Jerome Powell's comments last night tempered expectations.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 2.85 points to 1,673.76. Trading volume was 1.04 billion shares valued at RM601.91mil. There were 387 decliners versus 220 gainers and 386 counters unchaged.
Dragging the index lower, Tenaga Nasional fell 16 sen to RM13.84. Other counters showed milder losses including Sime Darby Plantation losing three sen to RM4.86 and MISC shedding three sen to RM7.18.
Most active counters on the stock exchange were Lambo, trading flat at 6.5 sen, Impiana adding 0.5 sen to 4.5 sen and VS Industry unchanged at RM1.12.
Key regional markets were also slightly in the red. The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.25%, the CSI300 index down 0.3%, and Hong KOng's Hang Seng Index flat.
Japan's Nikkei Index lost 0.6% and South Korea's Kospi Index was unchanged.
Oil prices were on the rise, gaining over 1% on Wednesday as falling US inventories added to supply concerns due to turmoil in the Middle East.
US crude was up US$1.10 to US$58.93 a barrel and Brent crude rose 93 cents to US$65.98 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit slipped 0.2% against the greenback to 4.1540. It rose 0.5% against the pound sterling to 5.2631 and dipped 0.1% against the Singapore dollar to 3.0635.
