KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI extended its decline headed into midday as fears over the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 intensified restriction measures in Europe and triggered global selling in equities.

       At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was down 6.97 points to 1,495.04 amid subdued trading activity.

       Trading volume was for the morning was 1.35 billion shares valued at RM867.65mil.

       Dragging on the the blue chip index, Tenaga was down 17 sen to RM9.34 and Press Metal fell 11 sen to RM5.31.

       Among banks, Hong Leong Bank dropped 24 sen to RM18.62, CIMB fell four sen to RM5.28, while Maybank was up three sen to RM8.11 and Public Bank was flat at RM4.08.

       In plantations, Sime Darby Plantation was down nine sen to RM3.66 while IOI shed six sen to RM3.64.

       On the broader market, there were 558 decliners versus 224 gainers.

       Top active counters were Pasukhas down 0.5 sen to two sen, ATA IMS up 0.5 sen to 68.5 sen and ATA IMS rising 0.5 sen to 68.5 sen.

       In regional markets, the anxieties over the rising number of Omicron cases led to a risk-off sentiment.

       Japan's Nikkei slumped 2% while South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.55%.

       In China, the composite index shed 0.75% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.5%.

       Australia's ASX200 dipped 0.3%.