KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI succumbed to post-rally profit-taking on Friday morning as investors took stock of ongoing developments and the state of the global economy.
At 12.30pm, the local benchmark index was down 12.63 points to 1,718.05, retreating from the 2019 high it had achieved the previous day but still within range of the 200-day simple moving average overhead.
Trading for the morning session was slower compared to volume seen in the previous morning with 1.57 billion shares traded valued at RM1.03bil.
Decliners on Bursa Malaysia trumped advancers 618 to 198 while 294 counters were unchanged.
Regionally, equities markets are taking a step back on Friday on weak economic data even as US President Donald Trump is scheduled to host a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House later today to discuss a trade resolution.
China's Shanghai Composite Index ad CSI 300 Index were barely moved after a see-saw morning session
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, Japan's Nikkei Index and South Korea's Index were all down about 0.3%
In Southeast Asia, Jakarta's Composite Index led with a 0.8% slide.
Twenty-two of the 30 KLCI-linked stocks were in the red while six advanced. Nestle and Petronas Dagangan remained untraded as at midday.
Leading the decline, Maxis fell 16 sen to RM5.51, TNB dropped 16 sen to RM13.34 and Genting slid 17 sen to RM7.43.
Gainers included AMMB, rising three sen to RM4.58 on the previous day's positive earnings announcement, Hang Seng adding two sen to RM9.90 and Maybank rising two sen to RM9.55.
Most active counters were IW City jumping six sen to 65 sen, Sapura Energy
losing one sen to 31.5 sen and AirAsia X falling three sen to 26 sen.
IW City is rallying for a second straight day as the possible revival of the ECRL project cast a positive light on the future of the country's other mega-projects.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices fell as data showed US production hit a record 12 million barrels per day even as Opec reined in supply to prevent an overhang.
US Crude dropped 11 cents to US$56.85 a barrel and Brent crude fell US$66.91 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit continued to slide on profit-taking, losing 0.1% against the greenback to 4,0823. It rose 0.3% against the pound sterling at 5.3188 and was unchanged against the Singapore dollar at 3.0131.
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