KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI fell in morning trade as mounting global uncertainty over interest rates and a US tech sell-off sapped momentum from equities markets.
The benchmark index was down 1.83 points to 1,746.43 as the market halted for the lunch break. Over the early session, the index traded within a 10-point range of 1,741.32 to 1,751.22.
The market breadth remained weak as 567 stocks were negative, compared to 360 positive. Trading volume was 1.35 billion shares valued at RM1.25bil.
By sector performance, utilities and healthcare dragged on the market while financial services and plantations lifted.
Maybank was a standout performer among the heavyweight banks, rising 10 sen to RM12.04 to a new trading record.
IHH Healthcare gained 12 sen to RM9 and QL Resources rose eight sen to RM 4.08.
Of laggards, PETRONAS Chemicals shed nine sen to ARM3.19, YTL Power lost six sen to RM3.22 and Telekom Malaysia fell nine sen to RM7.95.
Top actives were Pharmaniaga
up 0.5 sen to 33 sen, Capital A gaining 0.5 sen to 60 sen and Tanco adding one sen to RM1.34.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed following Wall Street's tech-led sell-off as investors fretted over the high valuations of AI-related companies.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.88% to 54,247 and South Korea's Kospi rose 1.06% to 5,344.
China's Shanghai Composite index was little changed at 4,067 while the CSI300 dropped 0.15% to 4,653 and
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.37% to 26,734.
