The benchmark FBMKLCI began the day at 1,404.26 points, losing 7.78 points from yesterday’s close of 1,412.04.

However, analysts said, buying activities are likely to persist in the regional markets now that the US Federal Reserve has made its decision.

In a note this morning, Rakuten Trade said it expected the key index to move within the 1,405 to 1,420-point range given the possibility that investor sentiment may turn cautious.

In the US, the sentiment remains fragile thanks to the hawkish tone by Fed chairman Jerome Powell as the battle to bring inflation down continues.

Rakuten Trade said credit conditions could tighten further and that would prompt a selldown on banking stocks, just two weeks after one of the biggest bank failures in US history.