KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued to trade lower at midday, mirroring the lackluster performance seen in other regional stock markets.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 5.69 points or 0.39 per cent, to 1,451.91 from Wednesday's close of 1,457.60.
The index began the session with a slight 0.76-point decline, opening at 1,456.84, and fluctuated within the range of 1,451.19 to 1,457.84 throughout the session.
On the broader market, decliners led gainers 453 to 323, while 425 counters were unchanged.
Malacca Securities Research said trading interest on Wall Street has slowed down after the US stock markets rose for about eight to nine days straight.
It added that the US 10-year Treasury yield continues to ease further, while the investors will be watching closely on Fed's chair statement for more clues on the interest rate direction.
"Thus, with this slowdown in trading activities, further profit taking activities may emerge within the local equities. "We expect traders to focus on the upcoming reporting season for trading opportunities," it said in its daily market review.
The firm expects oil and gas (O&G) stocks to take a beating given the soft Brent oil prices, especially within the exploration and production (E&P) segment.
Meanwhile, it also expects selected technology stocks to perform well tracking the moves on Nasdaq.
"Heading into the full-blown reporting season, we favour the construction, property, building material, utilities and consumer sectors," it noted.