KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 22): The FBM KLCI remained in negative territory at the midday break today and fell 0.41% as sentiment at the local market stayed bearish.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI lost 7.04 points to 1,725.10.

Losers led gainers by 441 to 227, while 1,243 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.21 billion shares valued at RM778.81 million.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd and Bursa Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included My EG Services Bhd (MyEG), Datasonic Group Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Tiger Synergy Bhd, Pesona Metro Holdings Bhd, Prestariang Bhd, Iris Corp Bhd and Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd.

The gainers included KESM Industries Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, MyEG, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd and Merge Energy Bhd.

Asian share markets pared early losses on Monday as Chinese stocks swung higher for a second session and helped offset geopolitical concerns over Saudi Arabia, Italy and Brexit, according to Reuters.

Blue chips in Shanghai climbed 3.5% in early trade there, extending Friday's bounce on Beijing's pledge of support for the economy and companies, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian markets ended mixed last Friday following Wall Street's decline and slowdown in Chinese's economic growth.

It said back home, the FBM KLCI fell 5.87 points (down 0.34%) to close at 1,732.14, but recorded a week-on-week gain of 1.4 points (+0.08%).

"Technically, the outlook remains bearish following the emergence of an earlier 'head-and-shoulders' reversal chart pattern. However, on the shorter term, we do not discount the possibility of a continuation relief rebound rally given improving signals from key momentum indicators.

"Key levels of resistance to look at are 1,760 (R1) and 1,790 (R2). Conversely, lower support levels can be identified at 1,700 (S1) and 1,660 (S2)," it said.