KUALA LUMPUR: Investors continued to sell down Bursa Malaysia equities following the plunge on Wall Street overnight.

       The rout in major US indices came as a surprise, say analysts, which had expected a continued rebound or light profit-taking following the rally triggered by the US Federal Reserve's comments that it was unlikely to raise rates more than 50 basis points at a time.

       However, the heavy selling underlined the weak market sentiment, compounded by underwhelming earnings from e-commerce companies.

       At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was down 7.94 points to 1,575.04. The negative mood on the domestic market was marked with 437 declining stocks compared to only 54 gainers.

       "Given the violent selloff on Wall Street overnight, we believe the technology sector may continue to struggle.

       "Nevertheless, the elevated commodity prices should continue to support the relevant sectors such as energy and plantation; crude oil price remained supported above USD110 per barrel mark, while the CPO price is hovering above RM6,600," said Malacca Securities Research in a note.

       Most counters on the FBM KLCI were seen dropping into the red. The financial services sector, which led declines in the previous session, fell further, underpinned by Maybank dropping two sen to RM8.97, Public Bank sliding one sen to RM4.62 and Hong Leong Bank shedding 10 sen to RM20.60.

       Petronas Chemicals stepped back two sen to RM10.28 while Petronas Gas was up eight sen to RM16.80.

       Telcos were mixed with Axiata falling thee sen to RM3.37, Maxis rising two sne to RM3.77 and Digi gaining one sen to RM3.62.

       Among top actives, Technax was flat at 12 sen, Muhibbah rose five sne to 57.5 sen and PUC added 0.5 sen to 6.5 sen.