KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI continued to shed points on Thursday with investors taking money off the table ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Contagion fears over the Wuhan virus continued to negatively impact equities as observers speculate that the holiday travel period could facilitate the spread of the disease.

On the domestic scene, the benchmark index lost 2.58 points to 1,574.4 at midday after having slumped nearly 10 points in the previous session after Bank Negara made a surprise cut to its overnight policy rate.

Tradng volume was 1.32 billion shares valued at RM848.84mil. There were 473 decliners, 226 gainers and 338 counters unchanged.

Bank stocks were mixed as Maybank slid three sen to RM8.52 and Hong Leong Bank dropped six sen to RM16.18 while Public Bank rose 14 sen to RM19.16 and CIMB gained three sen to RM5.06.

In plantations, KL Kepong fell 30 sen to RM24 and IOI slid two sen to RM4.58 while Sime Darby Plantation slipped one sen to RM5.30.

Among telcos, While Digi edged one sen lower to RM4.50 on the back of uninspiring earnings results, Maxis rose seven sen to RM5.55 and Axiata gained five sen to RM4.27.

Glove makers saw some profit-taking after having ramped up significant gains following news of the coronavirus outbreak. Hartalega lost 12 sen to RM5.93 while Top Glove dropped five sen to RM5.38.

Supermax, which has been one of the most actively traded counters in recent days, slid three sen to RM1.51.

Oil prices took a sharp fall on Thursday amid fears that China's virus could impact economic growth in a repeat of the SARS epidemic in 2003.

US crude slumped 90 cents to US$55.85 a barrel and Brent crude fell 85 cents to US$62.36 a barrel.

In currencies, the ringgit held flat against the US dollar at 4.0635 and the Singapore dollar at 3.0120. It was 0.1% higher against the pound sterling at 5.3321.