At 12 noon, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.19 points at 1,599.11 from Friday's close of 1,603.3.
The index opened strong 2.84 points at 1,606.14 from 1,597.39 during the session.
It ended the morning trading session slightly lower due to selling pressure on all indices driven by technology counters, consumers, products and services industries despite mixed regional market performance.
On the broader market, investors saw losers outpacing gainers by 349 to 266, while 905 counters were unchanged, 790 untraded and 54 suspended.
Total turnover at 1.38 million units worth RM814.99 million.
Melacca Securities notes that investors are likely to continue to focus on recovery -themed stocks including banking, tourism and consumers following the reopening of the border on April 1, 2022.
He added that commodity -related counters also remained a concern due to rising commodity prices, apart from market sentiment related to the General Election strengthening trading activities in building materials and construction stocks.
Heavyweights saw Malayan Banking Bhd rise 5 sen at RM8.95, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained 21 sen at RM9.81 and MISC Bhd added 7 sen at RM7.34 while Public Bank Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd remained at RM4.66 and RM9.32.
Active stocks saw Widad Group Bhd add 0.5 sen at 36 sen, BSL Corporation Bhd down 0.5 sen at 19.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd fell 2 sen at RM1.04 and Dataprep Holdings Bhd lost 3 sen at 28 sen.
On the index board, FBM 70 decreased 76.58 points at 13,734.09, FBM Emas index declined 35.6 points at 11,422.69, FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 65.22 points at 12,021.37, FBMT 100 index lost 36.74 points at 11,106.26 and FBM ACE declined 31.48 points at 5,58.
In terms of sector, the Products and Services Industry index jumped 0.53 points at 205.72 and the Financial Services index rose 2.67 points at 16,746.4 while the Malay Plantation index jumped 34.36 points at 8,049.22.
