At 9.06am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 10.58 points, or 0.62%, to 1,685.73, from Wednesday’s close of 1,696.31.
The benchmark index opened 3.66 points easier at 1,692.65.
Market breadth was negative, with 204 decliners outpacing 143 gainers. A total of 303 counters were unchanged, 2,058 untraded, and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 314.62 million shares worth RM205.75 million.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd believed buying interest might sustain on the local bourse amid the positive overnight performance on Wall Street.
With Brent oil prices hovering below US$100 per barrel (US$1=RM3.97), the brokerage anticipated that positive sentiment would extend within the aviation and consumer sectors.
At the time of writing, Brent crude rose 3.08% to US$97.67 per barrel.
Among heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals jumped 14 sen to RM5.73, MISC was flat at RM8.30, Maybank and TNB trimmed 10 sen each to RM11.22 and RM13.96, respectively, while Public Bank shed four sen to RM4.66.
On the most active list, Hibiscus Petroleum increased six sen to RM2, Tanco grew one sen to RM1.66, Zetrix AI and TWL were flat at 76 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively, while MMAG and VS Industry went down half-a-sen each to three sen and 19 sen, respectively.
Among top gainers, Fraser & Neave advanced 36 sen to RM29.76, United Plantations strengthened by 20 sen to RM32.84, Allianz firmed 18 sen to RM21.16, and AEON Credit went up eight sen to RM5.75.
Top losers included Nestle, which contracted RM1.66 to RM99.34, Petronas Dagangan shedding 90 sen to RM21.08, PPB dwindling 24 sen to RM11.96, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong shaving 20 sen to RM21.76.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index reduced 63.77 points to 12,200.15, the FBM Emas Index eased 61.02 points to 12,351.90, the FBM Mid 70 Index slid 34.04 points to 17,154.68, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 46.29 points to 12,195.35, and the FBM ACE Index decreased 13.15 points to 4,409.41.
By sector, the Financial Services Index narrowed by 138.22 points to 19,829.50, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.46 of-a-point to 184.33, the Energy Index bagged 3.55 points to 801.49, and the Plantation Index declined 15.96 points to 8,901.45.