At 9am the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 4.27 points at 1,584.70 from Friday's close of 1,589.01.
The index opened strong 2.63 points at 1,591.64.
It opened in the green area but returned to red ahead of the release of Malaysia's trade data for March today.
On the broader market, investors saw losers at 177 outpacing gainers at 144, while 232 counters were unchanged, 1,696 untraded and 24 suspended.
Total turnover at 158.59 million units worth RM72.06 million.
Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd's note warns of March external trade data to be released later today.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the consumer and aviation sectors continued to benefit the local economy despite external risks that continue to plague the world.
He added that investors should pay attention to China's economic data which will also be released today as well as Malaysia's inflation rate to gauge the direction of Bank Negara Malaysia's interest rates at the end of the week.
Heavyweights saw Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Public Bank Bhd fall 2 sen to RM8.77 and RM4.65, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost 10 sen to RM10.22 and Press Metal Aluminum Holdings Bhd declined 9 sen to RM6.43 while IHH Healthcare Bhd remained at RM6.40.
Active stocks saw Cengild Medical Bhd rise 14 sen at 47 sen, Avillion Bhd added 0.5 sen at 9.5 sen, OCR Group Bhd gained 1 sen at 12.5 sen and Techna-X Bhd remained at 9.5 sen while Vortex Consolidated Bhd fell 0.5 sen at 18.5 sen .
On the index board, the FBMT 100 index decreased 27.35 points at 11,033.99, the FBM Emas index weakened 15.0 points at 11,398.70, the FBM Emas Shariah index contracted 6.83 points at 12,040.74, the FBM 70 fell 24.54 points at 13,756.81 and the FBM ACE decreased 5.82 points at 5,780.
In terms of sector, the Products and Services Industry index declined 0.54 points at 213.93, the Financial Services index slipped 39.71 points at 16,596.29 while the Plantation index collected 33.38 points at 8,388.65.
