KUALA LUMPUR: The selldown in local equities continued on Tuesday as the previous day's tally of new Covid-19 infections remained elevated at more than 7,000 cases.

       At 12.30pm, the country's blue-chip FBM KLCI was down 6.11 points to 1,525.52 amid diminishing hopes that the lockdown on the nation's economy will be soon lifted.

       Adding to the anxiety was the impending release of the US Federal Reserve's minutes from its recent meeting, which would offer hints as to the central bank's direction on monetary policy.

       Bank Negara's own interest rate decision will be announced tomorrow, with most analysts expecting the bank to keep to its current rate.

       Blue chips leading the sell-off included Press Metal , down nine sen to RM5, Maybank falling three sen to RM8.07 and PUblic Bank losing two sen to RM4.08.

       Other laggards included Sime Darby Plantation down three sen to RM3.92, and Tenaga Nasional sliding one sen to RM9.70.

       While there are expectations of returning interest in glove stocks due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the Covid virus, Top Glove remained subdued, losing four sen to RM3.90.

       Hartalega added one sen to RM7.07 whle Supermax shed two sne to RM3.12.

       Top actives on the broader market were Metronic down 0.5 sen to five sen, Serba Dinamik falling 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen and Priva losing 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen.

       Elsewhere in Asia, markets wobbled as investors lost their risk appetite ahead of the Fed's release of its meeting minutes.

       Japan's Nikkei fell 0.9% and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.6%.

       China's main index gained 0.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.7%. Australia's ASX200 was up 0.7%.