KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia's main index extended its fall headed into midday amid regional weakness as the US Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed a growing likelihood of a pullback in monetary stimulus.

       At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 7.62 points to 1,517.62, snapping two previous days of gains.

       According to Reuters, the minutes from the Fed July policy meeting published Wednesday fleshed out the Fed's thinking on when to taper its monthly bond purchases, and showed officials expected they could ease stimulus this year if the economy continues to improve.

       In Malaysia, investors were also on alert over any news flow regarding the election of a new Prime Minister, which kept some traders on the sidelines.

       Top Glove was the leading decliner on the blue-chip index, falling 14 sen to RM3.79, Tenaga Nasional dropped seven sen to RM9.82 and MISC slid 10 sen to RM6.83.

       Some tech-related counters were also seen pulling back led by KESM down 36 sen to RM12.30, Vitrox shedding 36 sen to RM19.14 and Greatech down 18 sen to RM7.27.

       Of actives, Advance Synergy slid 2.5 sen to 17 sen, Avillion rose one sen to 20 sen and Destini gained 1.5 sen to 18 sen.

       In Asian markets, investor sentiment fizzled on the back of the Fed minutes.

       Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.7% and South Korea's Kospi slid 1.6%.

       China's main indx fell 0.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng skidded 1.7%.

       Australia's ASX200 was down 0.4%.