KUALA LUMPUR: Investor attention was trained on FGV at the start of the Wednesday trading session as the government was due to table a white paper on Felda's losses to Parliament later in the day.
FGV was the most actively traded counter and rose six sen to RM1.32 as investors pinned their hopes on a potential RM6bil state-funded rescue.
Over the wider market, equities were on a softer footing amid concerns over a weaker IMF global forecast and the possibility of trade turmoil.
At 9.06am, the FBM KLCI was down 0.74 points to 1,641.2. Trading volume was 149.79 million shares valued at RM63.63mil.
There were 150 decliners versus 104 gainers and 194 counters unchanged.
Among the early gainers, Nestle rose 40 sen to RM146.40, KLK gained 16 sen to RM25.14 and Heineken added 10 sen to RM24.68.
Leading losers were Genting Plantation sliding 12 sen to RM10.38, Axiata slipping seven sen to RM4.12 and Magni-Tech dropping seven sen to RM4.52.
Asian markets were in the red on Wedneday as the IMF warned that global growth could slow further due to trade tensions and a possible no-deal Brexit even as the US planned to retaliate against the EU for European subsidies to Airbus.
In Japan, the Nikkei slid 0.7% while South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.25%.
Crude oil prices meanwhile returned to five month highs as US sanctions and Opec supply cuts continued to take effect.
International benchmark Brent futures were up 22 cents to US$70.83 per barrel from their last close.
US crude oil futures were up 28 cents to US$64.26 per barrel above their last settlement.
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