KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic market continued to move in range-bound motion over morning trading in the absence of fresh catalysts to spur buying interest.

       Investor sentiment was dampened by Wall Street's decline overnight, adding selling pressure to a market already sold down on anxieties over economic uncertainties.

       At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 1.12 points to 1,519.62, led lower by selling Press Metal , which has been weighed in recent weeks down by an energy crunch in China that threatens to disrupt production.

       The aluminium producer lost 14 sen to RM5.23 on ongoing fears that its profit margin will be eroded given the power-intensive nature of the industry.

       Meanwhile, bank counters showed some improvement ahead of the Friday's 3Q GDP result. Hong Leong Bank jumped 16 sen to RM18.16, CIMB rose one sen to RM5.02, and Maybank added two sen to RM8.01.

       Telcos were mixed with Digi down five sen to RM4.22, Axiata falling one sen to RM3.83 and Maxis rising one sen to RM4.60.

       On the broader market, Transocean hit limit up as it jumped 86 sen to RM3.75, underpinned by news that investment tycoon Tan Sri Surin Upatkoon had emerged as the second largest shareholder in the logistics provider with an 18.43% stake.

       Most active stocks were XOX unchanged at 3.5 sen, DNeX unchanged at 80.5 sen and Lambo also flat at 5.5 sen.

       In regional markets, equities prices managed to bounce back after losing ground earlier in the day on fears that rising US inflation could accelerate the US Federal Reserve's timeline for policy tightening.

       In China, the composite index was up 0.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.15%.

       Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi were both up 0.5% apiece. Australia's ASX200 was down 0.6%.