Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia's benchmark index ended the morning trading session lower, weighed by continued selling interest in heavyweights, and in line with downbeat regional markets. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 6.32 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,709.01 from Tuesday's close of 1,715.33.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FBM KLCI, which opened 2.67 points higher at 1,718.00, traded between 1,705.11 and 1,720.46 points during the morning session. Market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers 560 to 448, while 540 counters were unchanged, 1,211 untraded, and 35 suspended. Turnover stood at 1.88 billion units, valued at RM1.34 billion.

At the time of writing, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.32 percent to 26,137.01 points, Indonesia's IDX Composite Index slipped 0.22 percent to 7,542.40, Singapore's Straits Times Index eased 0.40 percent to 4,994.66, and South Korea's Kospi Index edged down 0.03 percent to 6,386.46.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell 12 sen to RM11.24, Public Bank slipped four sen to RM4.76, Tenaga Nasional declined eight sen to RM14.52, and CIMB Group eased four sen to RM7.76. However, IHH Healthcare added five sen to RM8.79.

On the most active list, Zetrix AI was flat at 89.5 sen, NexG rose 2.5 sen to 33 sen, Perdana Petroleum gained one sen to 17.5 sen, AirAsia X slid seven sen to RM1.33, while VS Industry was unchanged at 20.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Petronas Dagangan climbed 42 sen to RM20.42, Allianz Malaysia advanced 34 sen to RM21.24, United Plantations rose 20 sen to RM33.82, Sarawak Oil Palms gained 16 sen to RM4.82, and Fraser and Neave Holdings added 16 sen to RM31.36.

Of the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries lost 52 sen to RM36.08, Hong Leong Bank declined 28 sen to RM22.68, Petronas Gas slid 26 sen to RM18.02, Hong Leong Financial Group fell 20 sen to RM19.14, while MN Holdings was 12 sen lower to RM2.09.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 35.96 points to 12,447.35, the FBM Emas Index declined 34.61 points to 12,613.47, the FBM Mid 70 Index slipped 8.34 points to 17,842.70, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 6.44 points to 12,465.69, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 34.17 points to 4,586.34.

By sector, the Financial Services Index retreated 145.36 points to 20,179.20, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.18 points to 184.99, the Energy Index rose 10.38 points to 818.72, and the Plantation Index gained 58.49 points to 8,895.37.