At 10.15am, the FBM KLCI was up 3.3 points to 1,484.22, firmly below the 1,500 psychological level.
Analysts say the resistance remains will prove stiff, especially considering the heightened anxieties over the hawkish tone by the US Federal Reserve.
"We believe the local market will remains tepid as investors may stay cautious ahead of the FOMC meeting, where market players might be anticipating tighter monetary policy going forward as well as concerns over the Covid-19 Omicron variant in the UK.
"Also investors are likely to remain cautious amid inflationary pressure and take a pause ahead of the Sarawak state election," said Malacca Securities Research.
On the blue-chip index, bank stocks were led higher by Maybank, up four sen to RM8.13. CIMB rose two sen to RM5.16, Hong Leong Bank was up four sen to RM18.12 and PUblic Bank added one sen to RM4.01.
Press Metal
rose two sen to RM5.32 and Tenaga Nasional gained three sen to RM9.26.On the broader market, ATA IMS
rose 3.5 sen to 58.5 sen on top active volume of 10 million shares.Other most actives were Pasukhas
down 0.5 sen to three sen and Pelikan rising 2.5 sen to 56.5 sen.