At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,862.43, down 0.27 of a point. The FBM KLCI hovered between 1,861.63 and 1,868.77.

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index slipped 26.791 points to 17,160.6, the Industrial Index gained 3.96 points to 3,164.16 while the Plantation Index rose 8.4 points to 9,147.73.

The FBM Emas Index was 5.22 points higher at 12,892.9, the FBMT100 Index lost 5.42 points to 12,537.85, the FBM Ace decreased 7.35 points to 6,584.41 while the FBM 70 declined 20.28 points to 14,044.91.

In the broader market, losers outpacing gainers 336 to 257 while 304 counters were unchanged, 715 untraded and 25 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 536.22 million shares worth RM420.83 million.

Among actives, Advance Synergy rose half-a-sen to 26 sen, ETI Tech was flat at nine sen and Sona Petroleum added 1.5 sen to 53 sen.

Of heavyweights, Maybank was unchanged at RM9.84, Public Bank declined two sen to RM20.76 but Tenaga rose eight sen to RM11.78. -- Bernama