KUALA LUMPUR: The losses in Malaysia's benchmark index widened over the early session, erasing nearly all the gains it made in last Friday's session.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 13.93 points to 1,485.54, affirming that investors were not yet ready to breach the 1,500 psychological resistance in light of the volatility in the investment landscape.

The broader market pulled back with declining issues outnumbering advancers to a lopsided ratio of 3.430-to-1.

Leading decliners were Kuala Lumpur Kepong down 32 sen to RM19.60, PETRONAS Dagangan dropping 26 sen to RM19.24 and MPI shedding 22 sen to RM14.88.

Trading volume, however, remained slight with 2.13 billion shares transacted for RM858.31mil.

Wall Street's reopening after an extended holiday weekend served to reignite the selling pressure in global markets as Trump accelerated his attack on the Federal Reserve.

Japan's Nikkei shed 0.27% to 34,186. China's market remained firm with the Shanghai composite index rising 0.31% to 3,301 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng flat at 21,387.

Singapore's Straits Times index rose 1.22% to 3,805.