KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI shaved losses from earlier in the day as investors picked up bargains ahead of earnings results.
Also helping to shore up investor sentiment was Malaysia's better-than-expected export performance of 20.7% growth in April, beating analyst expectations.
At 12.30pm, the key index was down 3.89 points to 1,551.02 while other overall market was negative with 645 decliners compared with 217 gainers.
There were steep losses in Press Metal
, down 20 sen to RM5.08 while financial heavyweights also pulled back on fears of slower economic growth.
Maybank slipped three sen to RM8.96, Public Bank dropped three sen to RM4.58, CIMB dipped one sen to RM5.06 and Hong Leong Bank fell 18 sen to RM21.02.
Consumer and brewery stocks were also seen sliding with Dutch Lady down 50 sen to RM33.50, Carlsberg dropping 24 sen to RM22.04 and Heineken falling 24 sen to RM24.74.
Plantation counters however were higher ahead of earnings; IOI gained eight sen to RM4.42, Sime Darby Plantation added three sen to RM5.25 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose 15 sen to RM26.86.
Top actives were Serba Dinamik down 0.5 sen to 15.5 sen, Sapura Energy sliding 0.5 sen to seven sen and Technax adding one sen to six sen.
Major Asian markets meanwhile tracked Wall Street lower, spooked by the impact of rising inflation on corporate earnings.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.8%, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.3% while China's composite index edged 0.1% lower.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng however dove 2.25% on the back of a sell-off in tech stocks while Australia's ASX200 was down 1.6%.
