At 9am the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.60 points at 1,597.81 from Friday's close of 1,602.41.
The index opened 0.38 points weaker at 1,602.03.
It opened on cautious sentiment for profit-taking activity after an excellent close last week in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine and expectations of an interest rate hike by the United States (US).
On the broader market, investors saw gainers outpacing losers by 178 to 147, while 251 counters were unchanged, 1,668 untraded and 35 suspended.
Total turnover at 175.02 million units worth RM80.6 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice -president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse closed higher on Friday when the KLCI broke the 1,600 level due to last -minute buying activity from foreign funds.
He added that the Wall Street market remained strong last Friday with bargain-hunting activity despite a weak first quarter corporate earnings report.
Moreover, it expects the local index may be at the level of 1,595-1,610 today.
Heavyweights saw Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) fall 4 sen to RM8.94, Public Bank Bhd lost 1 sen to RM4.77 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd fell 12 sen to RM9.65 while IHH Healhcare Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd remained at RM6.25 and RM5.33.
Active stocks saw TWL Holdings Bhd rise 0.5 sen at 7.5 sen, Pappajack Bhd jumped 1.5 sen at 41 sen, Vortex Consolidated Bhd added 1 sen at 11 sen and TA Win Holdings Bhd advanced 0.5 sen at 15.5 sen while TWL warrant grants remained at 4.5 sen .
On the index board, the FBMT 100 index declined 16.14 points at 11,133.86, the FBM Emas index was down 6.87 points at 11,464.78 and the FBM Emas Shariah index fell 9.96 points at 12,023.89 while the FBM 70 was up 44.51 points at 13,917.36 and the FBM ACE added 23.73 points at 5,709.61.
In terms of sectors, the Products and Services Industry index declined 0.63 points at 205.72, the Plantation index declined 32.33 points at 7,916.43 and the Financial Services index declined 5.49 points at 16,903.37.
