KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI slid slightly below the 1,500 psychological level at midday, amid sustained profit-taking pressure as investors cashed in on the gains made during the recent window-dressing period.

       At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was down 18.23 points to 1,549.3.

       The leading laggard was IHH, which dropped 45 sen to RM6.89 after having rocketed higher to an all-time high in the previous session.

       Telcos were also big losers led by Axiata down 27 sne to RMRM3.89, Maxis falling 27 sen to RM4.58 and Digi sliding 30 sen to RM4.06.

       Petronas Gas shed 74 sen to RM17.26 while Petronas Chemicals shaved 10 sen to RM8.82.

       On the broader market, there were 330 decliners to 296 gainers for a slightly negative market breadth.

       Top actives were KGroup unchanged at 1.5 sen, SMTrack up two sen to 21 sen and DNeX climbing three sen to 79 sen.

       On the regional market, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4%, South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.1% and China's benchmark index rose 0.6%.

       Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.6% while Australia's ASX200 stayed closed for a New Year's Day holiday.