KUALA LUMPUR: Key Asian markets fell at midday on July 3, with the KL Composite Index also in the red, as investors stayed cautious following the bleak job reports from the US.

At 12.30pm, the KLCI was down 4.61 points or 0.43% to 1,074.1. Turnover was 558.71 million shares valued at RM375.72 million. There were 131 gainers, 299 losers and 194 stocks unchanged.

Light crude oil fell 24 cents to US466.49 while crude palm oil futures fell RM35 to RM2,145 per tonne.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.16% to 9,761.57, Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 1% to 2,297.55 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.5% to 18,094.66. Shanghai’s Composite Index bucked the trend, adding 0.26% to 3,068.30.

Meanwhile, a report from the Malaysian American Electronics Industry (MAEI) also provided little comfort for the semiconductors industry.

The MAEI projected total sales forecast of MAEI members for 2009 at RM54.6 billion, down 27.5% from the actual sales of 2008. This was also in line with the forecasts of industry sales contraction of more than 20% projected by various research houses.

MPI fell 17 sen to RM4.88 while Unisem gave up two sen to RM1.22.

The weaker crude oil prices also weighed on counters like Shell, which fell 30 sen to RM10.20. Lafarge Cement fell 30 sen to RM5.70, DiGi 20 sen to RM21.80, MISC-F and Public Bank foreign 15 sen each to RM8.45 and RM9.05.

Proton lost 11 sen to RM2.71 after analysts maintained a largely lacklustre view on the company, despite the national carmaker’s sales of its latest offering, the Exora multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), exceeding expectations.

Talam-PB fell 0.5 sen to 7.5 sen and it was the most active with 92.8 million units done while the shares shed one sen to 9.5 sen.

Tenaga rose 15 sen to RM7.75, Dutch Lady and MISC added 10 sen each to RM10.80 and RM8.65 while UEM Land gained six sen to RM1.44.