KUALA LUMPUR: Investors took a breather from the equities rally to digest gains ahead of the release of economic data due later this week.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI was down 1.09 points to 1,463.58, as investors pared losses after losing as much as six points earlier in the day.
There were 473 decliners on the market compared to 309 gainers.
Trading volume was 1.69 billion shares valued at RM965.32mil.
Leading the market lower, PETRONAS Chemicals fell four sen to RM7.30 and Tenaga Nasional slid four sen to RM9.96.
Sime Darby Plantation
dropped five sen to RM 4.36 while Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed four sen to RM22.06.
Meanwhile, QL Resources shed 16 sen to RM5.64, Carlsberg dropped 16 sen to RM19.96 and Hextech fell 12 sen to RM23.
Top actives were EA Technique up five sne to 39 sen, Ranhill rising two sne to 90 sen and PDZ gaining 0.5 sen to six sen.
In regional markets, equities prices were lower after a three-day rally.
China's composite index shed 0.35% to 3,047 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 1.5% to 17,696.
Japan's Nikkei was down 1.1% to 32,337 and South Korea's Kospi dove 3.1% to 2,425 after surging previously on the back of a ban on short-selling.
