The market was seen rebounding earlier in the week as investors were relieved at the orderliness of the ongoing change in ruling government, and refocused their attention on the recovery theme.
However, overnight weakness on Wall Street triggered by the Federal Reserve minutes that showed a split view over when monetary support should be be reduced, lent a shaky start to Asian markets.
At 9.05am, the blue-chip FBM KLCI was down 4.65 points to 1,520,59 as investors booked in recent gains.
The index was broadly lower, with the decline led by Petronas Chemicals falling nine sen to RM7.90, Top Glove losing seven sen to RM3.86 and Maybank sliding four sen to RM8.10.
Other counters in the red included MISC down 11 sen to RM6.82, Tenaga dropping seven sen to RM9.82 and Petronas Gas slipping 12 sen to RM15.98.
On the broader market, top actives were Advance Synergy
down 1.5 sen to 18 sen, AppAsia falling 0.5 sen to 16.5 sen and Avillion up one sen to 20 sen.Moving forward, Malacca Securities Research expects the recovery theme sector such as construction, building material and property to gain traction given the vaccination progress.
"The FBM KLCI extended its rally as the key index continued to hover above the daily EMA9 and EMA20 level.
"Technical indicators remained positive as the MACD HIstorgram has extended a green bar, while the RSI hovered above the 50 level," it said in its daily technical outlook.
It pegged resistance to 1,540 and support at 1,500.