KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI was flat at the midday break after swinging back from earlier losses as traders sought out opportunities amid a scarcity of fresh leads in the new year.
The benchmark index was down a marginal 0.08 points to 1,672.27 at 12.30pm, after having traded within a seven-point band of 1,665.94-1,672.57.
Decliners on the broader market outweighed gainers by 524 to 355. Most sectors were negative with the positive outliers being construction, plantation and consumer stocks.
Trading volume was 1.57 billion shares valued at RM1.18bil.
Among the blue chips, laggards included AMMB down seven sen to RM6.38, CelcomDigi dropping five sen to RM3.39.
Top actives included Capital A down 3.5 sen to 41 sen, Tanco up two sen to RM1.21 and MMAG flat at 7.5 sen.
Meanwhile, regional markets dropped after the previous day's rally. Japan's Nikkei lost 1.12% to 51,927 and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.17% to 4,517.
China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.21% to 4,092 while CSI300 slid 0.11% to 4,785.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.21% to 26,386.
