KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's benchmark FBM KLCI edged cautiously higher in morning trade as investors chose the sidelines in anticipation of further external developments.
At the lunch break, the key index was up 1.48 points to 1,392.37. There were 445 decliners compared to 251 gainers, signaling a weak overall market.
Trading volume was 1.5 billion shares valued at RM657.86mil.
According to Reuters, stock prices were wobbly on Monday following an aborted mutiny by Russian mercenaries over the weekend, which raised questions over stability in the region and its impact on oil supply.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was little changed at 32,775 while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,584.
China's composite index was down 0.75% to 3,174 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.1% to 18,862.
On Bursa Malaysia, Maybank dropped four sen to RM8.70 and CIMB shed four sen to RM5.17 as concerns over the economic outlook continued to weigh on the financial sector.
Domestic technology counters also continued to back away from June highs as the global sector was disappointed by the US Federal Reserve's commitment to further rate hikes this year.
The Bursa Malaysia Technology Index fell 0.75% to 61.10 with declines in D&O, down 10 sen to RM3.74 and Pentamaster sliding nine sen to RM4.78 and Frontken down four sen to RM3.08.
Top actives included Classita down 0.5 sen to nine sen, Borneo Oil
unchanged at 1.5 sne and SCIB up two sen to 44.5 sen.
