At 9.25am the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 1.66 points at 1,500.13 from Thursday's close of 1,501.65.
It opened lower following new concerns about the troubling Omicron Covid-19 variant and the drop in prices on Wall Street has dragged down global markets.
The index opened 0.14 points at 1,501.56.
On the broader market, investors saw losers outnumber gainers by 244 to 161, while 280 counters were unchanged, 1,620 untraded and 52 suspended.
Total turnover at 338.56 million units worth RM159.98 million.
A note issued by Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that ongoing concerns over Omicron have led the United Kingdom (UK) to implement new sanctions on the rise of Covid-19 cases.
He added that they believe high -potential stock buying activity will emerge in the near future for heavyweights.
In addition, they also noted that the transport sector was the focus after the recovery of the demand market which coincided with the increase in tons on the Baltic Exchange Dry Index.
The commodity market saw oil prices decline by 1.85% but stood at US $ 74 or RM312.41 while crude palm oil prices continued to record losses.
Heavyweights saw Press Metal Aluminum Holdings Bhd fall 7 sen to RM5.45, Axiata Group Bhd lost 3 sen to RM3.81, Nestlé (Malaysia) fell 90 sen to RM131.40, Public Bank Bhd fell 1 sen to RM3.98 and Digi.Com Bhd fell 2 sen to RM4.10.
However, MR DIY Group (M) Bhd rose 5 sen to RM3.55 and IHH Healthcare Bhd added 2 sen to RM6.59.
Active stocks saw Malaysian Genomics Resource Center Bhd down 13 sen at 69 sen, Industronics Bhd and Widad Group Bhd up 0.5 sen at 13.5 sen and 38.5 sen respectively, Impiana Hotels Bhd and Iconic Worldwide Bhd added 1 sen at 10 sen and 33 sen while Fintec Global Bhd remained at 1 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas index declined 11.33 points at 10,940.50, the FBMT 100 index declined 13.46 points at 10,641.12 and the FBM Emas Shariah index declined 9.63 points at 11,831.76.
FBM 70 fell 24.57 points at 14,150.91 and FBM ACE weakened 29.93 points at 6,252.15.
The Products and Services Industry Index declined 0.92 points at 193.41, the Financial Services index fell 13.46 points at 15,151.67 and the Plantation index rose 9 points at 6,504.
