KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia settled lower at midday due to a lack of new catalysts and subdued sentiment in the regional markets.
As of 12:30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 2.12 points to 1,452.26 from the previous close of 1,454.38.
The FBM KLCI opened slightly lower at 1,454.08 and fluctuated between 1,451.15 and 1,456.66 throughout the morning trading session following the Christmas break the day before.
In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers with 444 to 290, while 408 counters remained unchanged, 1,163 were untraded, and 15 were suspended.
The total turnover amounted to 1.63 billion units valued at RM955.27 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI digested the recent gains for the third session as profit taking activities emerged within the banking heavyweights.
"Similarly, the US stock markets trended sideways after a long stretch of upward trending movements.
"We believe the market is still pricing in the dovish statements from the Federal Reserve, coupled with the recent inflation data that came in within expectations," it said in a note today.
Malacca Securities added that given the US gross domestic product is still growing for the third quarter and both the personal consumption expenditure and consumer price index were increasing at a moderate pace, they are expecting global markets to trend higher over the near term.
"Hence, for this week, we believe buying support may return on the local front, heading into the final week of window dressing activities.
"On the commodity markets, Brent oil prices maintained around the US$80 per barrel level," it added.