KUALA LUMPUR: The decline on Bursa Malaysia accelerated as it approached midday with the benchmark index slipping below the 200-day simple moving average.

       At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 11.46 points to 1,571.62 as global corporate earnings reflected supply chain disruptions that could slow the economic recovery.

       With Bursa investors already staying on the sidelines one day ahead of the tabling of Budget 2022, the retreat in regional markets hastened a correction phase on Bursa Malaysia.

       Amid a broad-based retreat, Press Metal slumped 19 sen to RM5.51 while Petronas Chemicals erased 12 sen to RM8.67.

       MISC dropped 14 sen to RM7, Sime Darby Plantation slid five sen to RM4.15 and Maix shaved seven sen to RM4.73.

       Bank counters remained mixed as Public Bank dropped two sen to RM4.21 and CIMB lost two sen to RM5.26 while Hong Leong Bank rose two sen to RM18.88 and Maybank was flat at RM8.13.

       The only other gainer on the FBM KLC was Nestle, adding 10 sen to RM133.90.

       On the broader market, Dataprep surged 12.5 sen to 97.5 sen with 48.43 million shares traded, the second-highest volume on Bursa Malaysia.

       Kanger, down one sen to 4.5 sen, topped the most active list with 396.05 million shares traded.

       Rounding out the top three was Ireka, which rose 3.5 sen to 69 sen with 37 million shares exchanging hands.

       In Asia, markets gravitated lower as the corporate earnings-inspired rally hit a hitch after reports showed supply shortages negatively impacted sales.

       Japan's Nikkei dropped 1% while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2%.

       China's main index slid 0.9% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.1%.

       Australia's ASX200 was down 0.4%.