KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's benchmark stock index pared losses headed into the lunch break as regional markets proved more resilient than anticipated in light of Wall Street's overnight plunge.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 1.69 points to 1,446.52 after retracing higher from a morning low of 1,441.5.
There were 376 decliners on the market compared to 364 gainers. Trading volume was 1.69 billion shares valued at RM938.91mil.
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led the index lower after falling seven sen to RM4.83 while banks counters were also in the red led by Maybank down two sen to RM8.88 and Public Bank falling one sen to RM4.20.
Investors were seen flocking to consumer plays including Dutch Lady up 26 sen to RM22.76, Carlsberg gaining 18 sen to RM20.06 and BAT adding 15 sen to RM9.38.
Top actives included KNM up 0.5 sen to 12.5 sen, Ekovest rising 2.5 sen to 59 sen and UEM Sunrise gaining three sen to 91 sen.
Some optimism in the region was found when reports of fresh regulatory measures to bolster the Chinese economy helped to shore up China's markets.
Shanghai's composite index was up 0.8% to 3,108 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng leapt 1.2% to 17,868.
In Japan, the Nikkei fell 0.25% to 32,488 and South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.15% to 2,510.
