At 9am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 14.78 points at 1,479.17 from Friday's close of 1,493.95.
The index opened 10.19 points weaker at 1,483.76.
The bourse extended last week’s losses to open lower today, reflecting Wall Street’s weak performance after higher -than -expected U.S. inflation readings.
On the broader market, investors saw losers at 496 outnumber gainers at 55, while 204 counters were unchanged, 1,519 untraded and 21 suspended.
Total turnover at 251.27 million units worth RM128.14 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said the KLCI may continue its downward trend this week due to weak regional performance.
He expects the index to be in the 1,480-1,500 range today based on Wall Street’s overnight performance impacted by the inflation spike and rate hike expectations by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Heavyweights saw Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) lose 12 sen at RM8.63, Public Bank Bhd declined 7 sen at RM4.46 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd declined 6 sen at RM9.64 while IHH Healthcare Bhd remained at RM6.45.
Active stocks saw Sapura Energy Bhd add 0.5 sen to 5 sen, MLABS Systems Bhd declined 0.5 sen to 3 sen and Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) declined 2 sen to 97.5 sen while G3 Global Bhd and Ta Win Holdings Bhd remained at 4.5 sen and 3 sen. sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas index weakened 116.41 points at 10,617.24, the FBM Emas Shariah index declined 104.07 points at 10.893.17, FBM 70 declined 164.45 points at 12,949.13, FBM ACE declined 83.70 points at 5,050.66 and the FBMT 100 index declined 10319.71 points.
In terms of sectors, the Financial Services index declined 185.36 points at 16,234.77, the Plantation index declined 50.78 points at 7,545.87 and the Products and Services Industry index weakened 1.98 points at 191.35.
