KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI remained slightly lower at midday in line with the dour mood in regional markets as strong US economic data suggested aggressive interest rate hikes for the longer term.
At 12.30pm, the key index was down 2.07 points to 1,469.49. The market breadth was neutral with 413 gainers compared with 415 gainers.
Trading volume was 3.22 billion shares valued at RM1.26bil.
Leading the market lower was CIMB down eight sen to RM5.56 and Sime Darby Plantation
falling 11 sen to RM4.29.
Nestle fell RM2.30 to RM135.30, PETRONAS Gas lost eight sen to RM16.66 and Digi shed four sen to RM3.86.
Topping the actives list Dataprep gained 5.5 sen to 33 sen, Metronic rose 0.5 sen to 2.5 sen and AT Systemisation added one sen to two sen.
Meanwhile, Asian markets retreated following the release of US services industry data showed growth in November while employment rebounded.
China's composite index fell 0.1% to 3,209 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.9% to 19,336.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3% to 27,906, South Korea's Kospi slid 0.6% to 2,404 and Australia's ASX200 dropped 0.5% to 7,290.
