KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI managed to steady itself headed into midday following a weak early session, in line with the weak regional sentiment.
High on investors' list of concerns are key inflation reports scheduled for release this week will help to shape the Federal Reserve's future policy decision.
At the lunch break, the FBM KLCI was up 2.02 points to 1,610.45.
The index moved within an eight-point band with the intraday peak and trough pegged at 1,610.61 and 1,602.71 respectively.
The market breadth was negative with 552 decliners compared to 328 gainers, with losses recorded in most sectors.
For the early session, the trading volume was 1.79 billion shares changing hands for RM1.09bil.
Among the blue chips, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slumped 34 sen to RM22.26 while PETRONAS Chemicals slipped seven sen to RM4.57 and Telekom Malaysia fell seven sen to RM6.45.
Tenaga Nasional rallied 28 sen to RM14.38 while Hong Leong Bank gained 20 sen to RM20.44 and PETRONAS Gas climbed 16 sen to RM17.66.
Life Water ended the session at 91.5 sen, near its intramorning high, and a whopping 26.5 sen above its initial public offering price.
With 178.6 million shares traded, the beverage maker's shares were the most traded on Bursa Malaysia.
MPire, meanwhile slipped 0.5 sen to 21 sen with 45.32 million shares crossed and 3REN was flat at 41 sen after 21.4 million shares changed hands.
In key Asian markets, Japan's Nikke led the decline after dropping 1.08% to 38,951.
China's composite index was unchanged at 3,421 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.63% to 19,721.
Singapore's Straits Times was a fraction higher at 3,712.
