KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened flat before sliding into negative territory as a 3.3 per cent gross domestic product growth failed to act as a positive catalyst for investors.
At 9.10am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI slipped 0.25 per cent or 3.62 points to 1,457.05 versus Friday's close of 1,460.67.
The key index opened 0.41 points easier.
The broader market saw decliners led gainers 192 to 186 while 296 counters remained unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continued to slide due to broad based selling.
"Though we noticed 1,460 as the immediate psychology support level, we reckon this as a weak link thus expect the index to possibly hover between the 1,455-1,465 range today predominantly from the lack of positive catalysts. "Meanwhile, the Brent crude price rebounded to US$80 per barrel but traders remain unconvinced as global demand is expected to weaken," he noted.
On the global front, Thong said Wall Street ended barely in positive territory as traders began to digest the recent rally combined with mixed comments from the Feds officials on the outlook of inflation in the US.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.01 per cent or two points while the Nasdaq inched 0.01 per cent or 12 points (+0.01 per cent) higher with the US 10-year yield remaining flattish at 4.44 per cent.
Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slumped by 2.12 per cent or almost 380 points mainly dragged down by the sell-down on Alibaba after it scrapped plans to spin off its cloud-computing business amid the heightened tech war coupled with Jack Ma's intention to reduce his stake later this month.