KUALA LUMPUR (April 11): The FBM KLCI dropped 0.69% to its lowest level in three years at the midday break today and wiped out some 267 points from its 2018 peak of 1,895.18.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI lost 11.35 points to 1,628.11.

Losers beat gainers by 416 to 193, while 523 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 2.42 billion shares valued at RM1.10 billion.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Far East Holdings Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd and Tasek Corp Bhd.

The actives included Daya Materials Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, Dynaciate Group Bhd, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd and Malton Bhd.

The gainers included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, Enra Group Bhd, Genetec Technology Bhd, Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, Toyo Ink Group Bhd and Hong Leong Industries Bhd.

Asian stocks stepped back from near eight-month highs on Thursday and the US dollar eased as European and US central banks reinforced investor worries about the global economic outlook and trade protectionism, according to Reuters.

In a fresh escalation of trade tensions, US President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs on goods from the European Union even as the Sino-US trade dispute remains unresolved, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI Index moved slightly lower on Wednesday, dropping 2.48 points or 0.15%. The index closed at 1,639.46.

"The index still turned lower despite a positive market breadth with 441 gainers as compared to 371 losers. This shows that index-linked stocks are performing slightly poorer as compared to the overall market.

"Anticipate markets to congest sideways with downward bias amidst the lack of fresh positive catalysts," it said.