KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI slipped into negative territory at midday amid the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and fears that Nvidia's third-quarters results will lead to disappointment in the AI space.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was down 4.04 points to 1,598.3, returning below the 1,600-point level as Asian markets looked ahead to the release of Nvidia's results later tonight.
The lower liners were in broad-based retreat with the market chalking up 538 laggards against 316 gainers.
Trading volume was 1.61 billion shares changing hands for RM1.18bil
Among the biggest losers on the blue-chip index, Nestle slumped RM1.24 to RM97.70 while Tenaga Nasional dropped 12 sen to RM14.30 and Maybank shed 12 sen to RM10.12.
The top actives were Cape EMS sliding two sen to 36.5 sen, Tanco rising two sen to RM1.50 and Permaju unchanged at four sen.
In key Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.31% to 38,295.
China's composite index fell 0.61% to 8,322 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.12% to 19,641.
Singapore's Straits Times, meanwhile, slipped 0.3% to 3,746.
