Hopes to see the Stock Exchange spring a surprise ahead of the FOMC meeting were buried after local markets reflected Wall Street's weak performance.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, the momentum of buying in heavyweight stocks was halted yesterday with profit-taking activity as the market was broadly overshadowed by fears of a rate hike by the FOMC.
Even so, the banking sector including construction is expected to continue to be the choice of local investors ahead of the presentation of Budget 2023 and the election.
As a result, the FTSE KLCI index (FBM KLCI) was down 7.02 points at 1,454.08 from Tuesday's close of 1,461.10 with a weak opening of 1.65 points at 1,459.45.
In the broader market, losses at 184 outpaced gains at 79, while 191 counters were unchanged, 1,936 untraded and 9 suspended.
Total revenue at 113.54 million units worth RM47.52 million.
Heavyweight stocks saw Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd lose 3 sen at RM8.67 and RM5.45 respectively while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd lost 6 sen at RM6.08 while Public Bank Bhd added 1 sen at RM4. .46.
Active stocks saw Top Glove Corp Bhd at 70 sen, SNS Network Technology Bhd and Citaglobal Bhd shed 0.5 sen at 26.5 sen and 23 sen respectively while China Automobile Parts Holdings Ltd remained at 0.5 sen and NWP Holdings Bhd was flat at 24 sen.
On the index board, FBM Emas fell 40.90 points at 10,383.0, FBMT 100 lost 41.99 points at 10,124.76, FBM Emas Shariah fell 51.62 points at 10,469.81, FBM 70 lost 24.94 points at 12,624.21 and FBM ACE lost 36.73 points at 4,770.57.
In terms of sectors, the Energy index was down 2.16 points at 718.03, the Plantation index was down 51.10 points at 6,856.44, the Financial Services index was down 31.24 points at 16,422.45 and the Products and Services index was down 0.97 points at 178.02.
Meanwhile, the ringgit fell against the dollar at 4.5640/5680 from 4.5585/5595 at Tuesday's close.
It was a drop to new lows against the greenback, breaking through the 4.5600 level.
