At 12.30pm, the key index was down 13.63 points to 1,529.29. The broader market was overwhelmingly negative with 662 decliners compared to 249 gainers.
Bank stocks were seen leading the market lower with CIMB slumping 22 sen to RM5.29, Maybank dropping seven sen to RM8.43, Public Bank shedding seven sen to RM4.15, Hong Leong Bank falling 30 sen to RM19.50 and RHB slipping four sen to RM5.76.
Technology counters extended their fall, tracking the rout in global tech stocks that saw the Nasdaq plunging 2.6% overnight.
MPI fell RM2 to RM40, KESM shed 48 sen to RM10.98 and UWC slid 39 sen to RM4.64.
Meanwhile, the benchmark oil index rose to a fresh multi-year high of US$88.60 a barrel.
Oil and gas plays rose in tandem with Petronas Chemical gaining three sen to RM8.98 and Petronas Gas adding two sen to RM16.58.
On the actives list, EA Holdings
dropped one sen to 1.5 sen, DNeX rose five sen to 91.5 sen and SCIB jumped 6.5 sen to 27 sen.In regional markets, equities were pummeled as US Treasury yields rose to fresh two-year highs.
Japan's Nikkei fell 2.4%, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.7% and China's composite index slipped 0.3%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was unchanged while Australia's ASX200 lost 0.9%.