At 9.11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 6.25 points to 1,670.40 from Tuesday’s close of 1,676.65.
The key index opened 14 points weaker at 1,662.65.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 588 to 78, with 203 counters unchanged, 1,572 untraded, and nine others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 378.47 million units valued at RM207.93 million.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of Investment Research, Sedek Jantan, described the downtrend due to sentiment as temporary.
He said the slowdown in the ISM manufacturing PMI, which suggests a further weakening of the US economy, will prompt investors to seek growth opportunities outside the US as a September interest rate cut is more certain.
“The market will go up. We saw foreign investors buy ringgit to invest in Malaysia with target stocks in the service sector such as utilities and financial,” he said.
“I still foresee a 25 basis points cut, but if the US non-farm payroll this Friday is also lower-than-expected, some analysts foresee a possible 50 basis points cut,” he said.
The US ISM manufacturing PMI increased to 47.2 from 46.8 in July but was below the market expectation of 47.5.
Among heavyweights, CIMB and YTL Power dipped seven sen to RM8.18 and RM3.88, respectively.
Maxis eased five sen to RM3.76, Press Metal was six sen lower at RM4.83, and YTL reduced four sen to RM3.00.
In active counters, TWL gained half-a-sen to 3.0 sen, Vetece rose three sen to 62.5 sen, Talam Transform remained unchanged at 3.0 sen, and Elridge Energy was one sen lower at 43 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 66.32 points to 12,431.30, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 88.87 points to 12,222.46, and the FBMT 100 Index shed 60.31 points to 12,129.95.
The FBM 70 Index dropped 142.57 points to 17,373.92, while the FBM ACE Index lost 90.42 points to 5,134.38.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 16.74 points to 19,645.27, the Plantation Index weakened by 44.13 points to 7,203.90, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.69 points to 178.27, and the Energy Index slipped 9.92 points to 906.66.