KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a negative note as it succumbed to selling pressure ahead of the US Federal Reserve rate decision.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI was down 2.76 points to 1,610.02, putting the market on track to a fifth straight session of losses.
The market had opened 6.36 points higher at 1,619.14, but the rebound quickly lost steam as investors were quick to cash in. Over the course of the early session, the index was traded within a 14-point band between 1,606.57 and 1,620.73.
The negative mood pervaded the broader market with 536 decliners compared to 337 gainers. Volume stood at 1.94 billion shares worth RM1.12bil.
By sector, only healthcare, REITs and construction stayed positive. Of the laggard sectors, financial services, property and utilities were among the most sold down.
Heavyweights that were actively sold down included Gamuda dropping 12 sen to RM5.08, CIMB dropping seven sne to RM7.83 and Telekom Malaysia shedding seven sen to RM7.73.
Meanwhile, leading actives included Velesto
up 0.5 sen to 25.5 sen and Tanco down four sen to RM1.14. Main Market debutant Orkim was up 0.5 sen to 92.5 sen after a flat opening.
Across the region, sentiment was doused by growing anxieties over whether the US central bank will cut its interest rate on by a quarter-percent, as widely anticipated.
In China, the Shanghai composite index dropped 0.13$ to 3,918 while the blue-chip CSI300 slid 0.14% oto 4,615. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.84% to 25,549.
Japan's Nikkei was up 0.13% to 50,645. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.34% to 4,140.
