At 9.09 am, the FBM KLCI slipped 6.30 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 1,670.53 from Wednesday’s close of 1,676.83. The benchmark had opened 2.61 points lower at 1,674.22.
On the broader market, losers edged gainers 161 to 129. A total of 277 counters were unchanged, 2,082 were untraded and 12 were suspended.
Turnover stood at 133.93 million shares valued at RM68.48 million.
Apex Securities said buying interest in selected counters could be supported by continued optimism in the global technology sector.
“Meanwhile, following weaker-than-expected ADP and JOLTS jobs data, investors will turn their attention to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls for clues on the US Federal Reserve’s rate-cut trajectory,” it said in a note.
Among heavyweight stocks, IHH Healthcare rose three sen to RM8.61, Press Metal added two sen to RM7.13 and Hong Leong Bank was unchanged at RM22.76. Maybank fell six sen to RM10.62, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.51 and CIMB slipped four sen to RM8.02.
On the most active list, Vantris gained 5.5 sen to 44 sen, Capital A edged up half a sen to 41 sen and IJM climbed seven sen to RM2.81. Tanco was flat at RM1.20, MMAG shed half a sen to seven sen and SNS Network dropped 3.5 sen to 61 sen.
Among top gainers, Petronas Dagangan advanced 12 sen to RM20.08, while PPB and PJBumi rose six sen each to RM10.68 and RM1.53. LGMS jumped 4.5 sen to 59.5 sen and Frontken added four sen to RM4.19.
Top decliners included Nestle, which slid RM1.70 to RM120.30, Petronas Gas, down 12 sen to RM18.26, and Tenaga Nasional, which lost 10 sen to RM13.60. MISC fell six sen to RM7.57 and Westports eased five sen to RM5.56.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index fell 29.55 points to 12,330.55, the FBM Top 100 Index dropped 31.18 points to 12,120.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 19.95 points to 12,146.80.
The FBM Mid 70 Index rose 20.52 points to 17,194.05, while the FBM ACE Index edged down 12.70 points to 4,951.61.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 70.06 points to 19,704.13, the Energy Index eased 2.76 points to 766.89, the Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.21 of-a-point to 172.25, and the Plantation Index fell 10.09 points to 8,387.85.