KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's key stock index entered midday slightly lower as investors searched for direction amid ongoing uncertainty in the AI space, confusion over the Federal Reserve's recent rate decision and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures for September delivery slipped below the US$90 a barrel level as shipments of oil continued from the Gulf region despite an escalation in hostilities between the US and Iran.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 0.95 points to 1,714.61, keeping to a sideways direction as traders stayed to the sidelines. Nestle helped to prop up the sagging market, rising RM2.10 after it announced positive earnings earlier in the week.
Funds, however, withdrew from the broader market, sending 533 stocks into the red. Comparatively, only 299 stocks advanced while 528 were unchanged.
Trading volume was 1.3 billion shares changing hands for RM1.04bil.
Of the sectors, technology fell 0.82% and financial services dropped 0.15%. Energy stocks rose 0.42%, plantations gained 0.21% and consumer services added 0.1%.
Notable gainers were Westports rising 15 sen to RM6.98, Pensonic gaining 12 sen to 55 sen and Allianz adding 18 sen to RM21.18.
Of actives, Zetrix AI slid one sen to 69.5 sen, VS Industry dropped 1.5 sen to 22 sen and SNS Network shed 0.5 sen to 53.5 sen.
In regional markets, South Korea's Kospi remained wobbly after a rout in its semiconductor players wiped out 16% or over US$600bil of market value over two days. At the time of writing, index was down 0.34% to 5,643.
Japan's Nikkei was up 0.87% to 61,696. The Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.15% to 3,784 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was nearly flat at 25,798.
