KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s benchmark FBM KLCI descended into the red after briefly bouncing higher in early trade.

At 12.30pm, the key index was down 2.58 points to 1,378.68.

Overall market breadth was negative with 469 gainers compared to 294 decliners.

Trading volume was 2.21 billion shares valued at RM896.61mil.

Among blue chips dragging on the FBM KLCI include CelcomDigi down eight sen to RM4.40, PETRONAS Chemicals shedding 11 sen to RM6.44 and Hong Leong Bank dropping 30 sen to RM18.66.

Public Bank was a bright spot on the market, rising four sen to RM3.82 while IHH Healthcare climbed 12 sen to RM5.82.

Bursa Malaysia’s energy index fell 1.8% to 796.84, following reports Saudi Arabia will be slashing its production in July even as Opec+ extended a deal to limit supply into 2024.

Meanwhile, Bumi Armada plunged 12.5 sen to 51 sen on news the Armada Kraken FPSO was shut-in due to mechanical failure.

Top actives on the market included Borneo Oil unchanged at 1.5 sen, DNeX losing three sen to 48.5 sen and Classita up one sen to 13 sen.

In regional markets, stocks bounced higher on growing hopes the US Federal Reserve will skip a rate hike at its monetary policy meeting next week.

Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.8% to 32,466, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5% to 2,615 and China’s composite index was little changed at 3,233.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.5% to 19,206.