KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): The FBM KLCI fell in the mid-afternoon today with Asian shares after news reports quoted US President Donald Trump as saying he was not pleased with the US-China trade talks. In Malaysia, the KLCI also fell following weaker corporate earnings announcements.

At 3:11pm, the KLCI fell 35.38 points or 2% to 1,809.65 points. In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.37% while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite was 1.41% lower. Elsewhere across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.18%.

Reuters reported that Asian shares were mostly weaker on Wednesday with investors cautious after Trump tempered optimism over progress made in trade talks between the world's two largest economic powers.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities senior investment analyst Norihiro Fujito was quoted as saying: "The market probably became overly optimistic on Monday. The reality is the talks are still continuing as they haven't made headway on various issues, including intellectual property."

Across Bursa Malaysia, 1.8 billion shares worth RM1.77 billion were traded. Top decliners included KLCI-linked Axiata Group Bhd after the stock fell 64 sen to RM4.43.

Yesterday, Axiata announced a net loss of RM147.41 million during the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 versus a net profit of RM239.02 million a year earlier.