KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips fell in the morning session on Friday, but the FBM KLCI was off its early low. However, the broader market displayed caution, as investors took their cue from the selling on regional markets.

At 10.43am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.87 points to 1,599.56 but off the early low of 1,594. Turnover was 463.66 million shares valued at RM306.43mil. Losers beat gainers 323 to 126 while 236 counters were unchanged.

Bloomberg reported the fall in key Asian markets had almost erased this week's gains while South Korea's won weakened as reports added to signs of a U.S. economic slowdown. Bond risk increased after Moody's Investors Service cut ratings on global banks.

The new wire reported a Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia index signaled the worst contraction in manufacturing in almost a year, while existing U.S. home sales fell more than forecast and jobless claims exceeded estimates.

Also dampening investors' risk appetite was after Moody's cut credit ratings for Credit Suisse AG and 14 other banks, while the International Monetary Fund said Europe's debt crisis has reached a "critical stage."

Nestle was the top loser, down 20 sen to RM57.60 with 200 shares done, PetDag fell 16 sen to RM21.64, HL Bank 10 sen to RM12.40 while Dutch Lady gave up eight sen to RM36.40.

The other decliners were Fututec, down 13 sen to 81 sen, Aeon Credit eight sen to RM11.82 and Jaya Tiasa seven sen lower to RM8.79.

However, Luster saw very active trade amid the cautious market, up five sen to 19 sen and it was the most active with 110.62 million shares done. The warrants added four sen to 14.5 sen with 60.34 million units transacted.

MBMR-WA was the top gainer, adding 30 sen to 60.5 sen. Takaful and BIMB resumed their upward trend, with the insurer up 15 sen to RM6.10 and the banking group rising 11 sen to RM3.31.

Wah Seong rose seven sen to RM1.92 after Perdana Petroleum picked its unit Wasco Energy Ltd as the successful bidder for the 26.9% stake in Petra Energy Bhd.

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• Please wait.

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• MISC posts RM300m net profit in Q1, sees challenging year ahead (Update)
• KL Kepong slips to low of RM21.36 as quarterly profit drops

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