KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI found support at the 1,600 psychological level at noon, as traders continued to sell-down equities amid surging bond yields and signs of a further US rate hike this year.
At 12.30pm, the key index was down 11.08 points to 1,600.7, joining a broader regional sell-off amid rising geopolitical risks.
The broader market was negative with 758 declining issues compared with 312 advancing. There were 2.1 billion traded shares valued at RM1.65bil.
Of the 13 market sectors, only healthcare and consumer products were positive, up 1.34% and 0.24% respectively.
Technology shares led the decline, diving 2.35%, while financial services dropped 0.89%
Plantations shed 0.98%, telcos lost 1.8%, construction shed 1.58%, utilities fell 0.88% and property slipped 0.18%.
Of the blue chips weighing on the market, Hong Leong Bank dropped 34 sen to RM21.16, Gamuda slid 16 sen to RM4.92 and CIMB dipped 13 sen to RM7.20.
On the actives list, Zetrix AI was flat at eight sen, Top Glove rose 3.5 sen to 89 sen and VS Industry was up 1.5 sen to 34 sen.
Meanwhile, Asia's developed markets were under water. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.86% to 69,435 and South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.55% to 6,698.
The Shanghai Composite index slid 0.37% to 3,827 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.52% to 24,005.
