KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse started on a positive note before slipping into the red by the late morning session as investors weighed in on the threat of US military action in Syria.
The rising conflict snapped three days of gains on the FBM KLCI. At 12.30pm, the index was down 3.23 points to 1,865.77. Turnover was 2.16 billion shares with a value of RM1.09bil. There were 459 decliners versus 288 advancers and 367 counters unchanged.
Maybank led the declines, slipping six sen to RM10.54, while Sime Darby Plantation
slid six sen to RM5.57 and Maxis edged lower three sen to RM5.48.
Genting dropped five sen to RM8.99 while Nestle fell 70 sen to RM149.50.
Among the gainers, Tenaga Nasional rose six sen to RM15.92, Petronas Gas added 10 sen to RM18.10 and IOI advanced two sen to RM4.77.
On the broader market, Hengyuan chalked up a second day of gains, rising 19 sen to RM9.14. Asia File rose nine sen to RM2.74 while Power Root put on eight sen to RM1.47.
Cahya Mata Sarawak dropped 26 sen to RM4.14, LPI fell 14 sen to RM16.28 and Kossan slipped 11 sen to RM4.06.
In oil markets, tensions in Syria kept prices elevated to levels last seen in 2014 even as US production continued to weigh.
Brent crude rose 23 cents to US$72.29 a barrel while WTI crude added 30 cents to US$67.09 a barrel.
On the forex market, the ringgit was little changed against the US dollar at 3.8763 while it rose slightly against the pound sterling at 5.4941 and weakened marginally against the Singapore dollar at 2.9596.
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