KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark FBM KLCI took a sharp dip as the local bourse reopened for the new year, falling over 10 points amid profit-taking activities.
Sentiment in regional markets has been cautious given the impending return of Donald Trump to the White House, with most Asian benchmarks starting 2025 in the red.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 10.57 points to 1,631.76 while the market was overall weaker with 505 decliners compared to 365 gainers.
Turnover remained subdued with 1.58 billion shares traded for a value of RM871.99mil.
Leading the decline on the index, Tenaga Nasional fell 16 sen to RM14.78 while PETRONAS Chemicals dropped 23 sen to RM4.94.
Among the major banks, Hong Leong Bank slid 18 sen to RM20.38, CIMB lost eight sen to RM8.12 and Maybank dropped four sne to RM10.20.
Top actives on the market included SNS Network up 3.5 sen to 69.5 sen, Vanzo down 0.5 sen to 21 sen and Winstar up five sen to 68.4 sen.
In key regional markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was the biggest laggard, dropping 1.48% to 19,762 while the Shanghai Composite index slid 1.05% to 3,316.
Singapore's Straits Times dipped 0.11%R to 3,783 while Japan's stock exchange remained closed for a holiday.
