KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI retraced most of the losses seen earlier in the day as investors snapped up blue-chip bargains in anticipation of continued market upside.
At 12.30pm, the key index was down 1.61 points to 1,631.93.
It was an active trading day for Bursa Malaysia with 3.03 billion shares done for a value of RM1.84bil, although there was strong selling pressure following the sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
In the early session, the broader market was underpinned by 740 decliners as compared to 339 gainers.
The technology sector was the worst-hit on the market, with semiconductor plays taking a beating after it was reported that the US could impose tighter restriction on exports of advanced semiconductor technology to China.
The Bursa Malaysia Technology Index slumped 2.57% to 77.19, with leading laggards including Inari Ametron down 12 sen to RM3.85, Greatech shedding 12 sen to RM5.38, Pentamaster dropping nine sen to RM5.17 and Vstecs falling 14 sen to RM4.10.
Meanwhile, top actives on the market were Hubline up two sen to 10 sen, SNS Network dropping one sen to 91 sen and MYEG shedding four sen to RM1.01.
In key Asian markets, the sell-off in chipmakers dragged on benchmarks. China’s composite index slid 0.12% to 2,959 and Japan’s Nikkei dropped 2% to 40,275.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.21% higher at 17,776 while Singapore’s Straits Times index shed 0.64% to 3,467.