Although Wall Street recorded a profit performance with producer price index data that was weaker than expected, Bursa Malaysia was seen to fail to reflect the movement ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15).
At the opening, the FBM KLCI index started up 3.04 points at 1,447.50 before falling 8.86 points at 1,441.68 compared to Tuesday's close at 1,450.54.
In the broader market, losses at 153 outpaced gains at 105, while 188 counters were unchanged, 1,879 were untraded and 13 suspended.
Total revenue at 88.74 million units worth RM40.90 million.
According to Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, the local exchange showed brisk selling yesterday ahead of the GE to close at the support level of 1,450 but bargain-hunting activity is expected to support the index in the range of 1,445-14,60 today.
In addition, the fact that local companies are about to enter the earnings reporting season may encourage buying activity in the banking and telecommunications sectors.
Heavyweight stocks saw Maybank and Public Bank Bhd down 4 sen at RM8.46 at RM4.33, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd down 5 sen at RM8.57, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd lost 7 sen at RM5.34 and IHH Healthcare Bhd down 2 sen at RM5.94.
Active stocks saw Advance Synergy Bhd down 0.5 sen at 12 sen, Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd up 7.5 sen at 34 sen and Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd up 0.5 sen at 29 sen while Icon Offshore Bhd remained flat at 14.5 sen and Iris Corporation Bhd flat. at 12.5 cents.
On the index board, FBM Emas Shariah index fell 28.09 points at 10,415.88, FBM Emas index contracted 42.48 points at 10,273.19, FBM ACE decreased 27.97 points at 4,985.15, FBMT 100 index fell 46.6 points at 9,998.37 while FBM 70 rose 2.1 points at 12,306.67.
In terms of sectors, the Financial Services index fell 98.57 points at 16,073.16, the Plantation index fell 56.24 points at 6,875.22, the Products and Services index dropped 0.28 points at 178.38, while the Energy index added 4.57 points at 730.
