KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI was down over 14 points as investors reacted to news that the US could be planning to reduce its bond holdings amid planned interest rate hikes in the coming year.

       At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was 14.46 points lower at 1,533.49 on heavy profit-taking activity.

       The market breadth was also overwhelmingly negative with 526 decliners compared to 170 gainers.

       Leading the fall among the blue chips, Public Bank slipped five sen to RM4.12, CIMB dropped seven sen to RM5.40, IHH fell 11 sen to RM6.75, and Digi shaved nine sen to RM3.98.

       The technology sector tracked the Nasdaq's sharp pull back as investors positioned themselves for the end to the era of easy money.

       MPI shed RM1 to RM49, Greatec slid 28 sen to RM6.62, UWC fell 23 sen to RM5.94 and Pentamaster dropped 23 sen to RM5.27.

       Meanwhile, top actives were KGroup up 0.5 sen to two sen, SMTrack up 0.5 sen to 26.5 sen, Pasukhas unchanged at 2.5 sen.

       In other Asian markets, equities were on the backfoot as they tracked Wall Street's sharp decline

       Japan's Nikkei dove 2.6%, South Korea's Kospi slid 0.8%, Shanghai's composite index shaved 0.2%.