KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): The main index at Bursa Malaysia drifted lower in early trade on Wednesday, tracking regional markets as Wall Street took a breather overnight.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.36 points to 1,604.78.

The early decliners included Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, UWC Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Euro Holdings Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd.

Bloomberg said Treasury yields surged to the highest in a year, while global stocks pulled back from a record as investors weighed how the increase in yields could impact risk assets.

Rakuten Trade said Wall Street took a breather as rising bond yields kept traders sidelined on concerns of possible higher borrowing costs.

It said while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended lower, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 64 points higher to fresh record high at above the 31,500 mark.

“On the domestic front, while the FBM KLCI again succumbed to late selling activities especially on the glove counters, we noticed that funds are shifting to smaller-cap companies.

“Though the FBM KLCI may see some recovery possibly to above the 1,610 level, surging trading volume is indicative that retailers are back in force.

“We expect interests to remain on oil and gas (O&G) stocks with Brent crude staying above US$63 (RM254.76)/barrel,” it said.