Turnover was 736.76 million shares valued at RM650.48 million. Losers thumped gainers by 534 to 99, while 130 counters traded unchanged.

During the morning session, it fell almost 20 points to an intra-morning low of 1,040.40 after having started the day higher at 1,061.88, dragged by losses at finance counters and select blue chips.

The KLCI's recovery was also in tandem with regional markets, which edged slightly higher as the day progressed.

At noon, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 2.39% to 18,348.64, Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.79% to 9,863.13, the Taiwan TAIEX Index gained 1.3% to 6,312.02, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.91% to 2,906.62, the Singapore Straits Times Index added 0.85% to 2,292.60 while the South Korean Kospi was up 0.40% to 1,388.88.

At midday, crude oil fell 26 cents to US$69.29 per barrel. Crude palm oil futures for September delivery fell RM45 to RM2,240 per tonne; down RM47 to RM2,239 per tonne for August delivery and RM55 to RM2,260 per tonne for July delivery.

At the Bursa Malaysia, among the major losers at midday were BCHB, Tenaga, Maybank, Sime Darby, Bursa and BAT.

BCHB fell 20 sen to RM9.05, Tenaga down 10 sen to RM7.45, Maybank, Sime Darby and Bursa fell 5 sen each to RM5.65, RM6.95 and RM6.95 respectively.

Meanwhile, BAT fell RM1 to RM43.50, MAS lost 14 sen to RM3.04, Petronas Dagangan fell 15 sen to RM8.20 and PacificMas fell 26 sen to RM2.82.

Other losers included Nestle, LPI Capital, Kulim and Jaya Tiasa.

Cepco was the top gainer at midday, adding 28 sen to RM3.28, LFE Corp rose 27.5 sen to 45 sen, MISC up 20 sen to RM8.80 while Aliran Ihsan gained 15 sen to RM1.05.

Measat added 11 sen to RM1.66, Shell and Top Glove Corp gained 10 sen each to RM10.40 and RM6.35, Ekowood up 9 sen to 42 sen and Toyo Ink added 7 sen to RM1.28.

KNM was the most actively traded stock this morning with 74.3 million shares done. The counter fell 3.5 sen to 83 sen. Other actively traded stocks included Compugates, UEM Land, Tebrau, Scomi, Saag, Iris, Mulpha and Jaks Resources.