KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia tracked the sharp decline in US markets to start on a slide as investors pulled out of equities in light of rising interest rates.

       At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI was down 6.76 points to 1,536.16.

       There was a negative market breadth on the market with 348 decliners compared to 123 gainers.

       Overnight on Wall Street, the major US indices plunged on expectations of aggressive interest rate hikes and a bond reduction plan by the US Federal Reserve to rein in soaring inflation.

       Technology counters were the hardest hit in anticipation of higher lending costs, sending the Nasdaq down 2.6%.

       The rout in tech counters spilled over to Bursa Nalaysia, which saw a slide of over 3% in its own tech index.

       MPI dropped RM1.80 to RM40.20, KESM shed 44 sen to RM11.02, D&O dropped 26 sen to RM4.25 and Pentamaster lost 20 sen to RM4.26.

       Among blue chips, banks also wobbled following an earnings disappointment by Goldman Sachs in the US market.

       Maybank dropped two sen to RM8.39, Public Bank slid five sen to RM4.17, CIMB lost 10 sen to RM5.41 and Hong Leong Bank shaved 24 sen to RM19.56.

       Among most active counters, SCIB surge 7.5 sen to 28 sen on the back of 53.06 million shares traded as the trading suspension on the company was lifted following the release of its long overdue annual report.

       Other top actives were SMTrack down 0.5 sen to 23 sen and MQ Technology up one sen to eight sen.