KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): The FBM KLCI advanced at the midday break today amid mixed market breadth.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark index rose 1.58 points to 1,721.05. The index had earlier dipped to its intra-morning low of 1,717.32.

Losers edged gainers at 282 to 280, while 497 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.01 billion shares valued at RM927.26 million.

The top gainers included Padini Holdings Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, OldTown Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, Perak Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and IQ Group Holdings Bhd.

The actives included PUC Bhd, Green Packet Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, DGB Asia Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Trive Property Group Bhd and Dagang NeXchange Bhd.

The decliners included Pos Malaysia Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd and Hong Leong Industries Bhd.

Asian shares took a breather on Tuesday after three straight sessions of gains, with markets consolidating in the hope an upswing in global growth could outlast a likely hike in US borrowing costs this week, according to Reuters.

The latest promising news came from China where banks doled out a surprisingly generous dose of credit in November, which could bode well for a pickup in retail sales and industrial output due later in the week, it said.

CIMB Retail Research said the FBM KLCI Index lost 1.78 points or 0.1% yesterday on foreign selling.

"The stock market data showed that foreign funds were net sellers at RM35.8 million on Monday.

"Today, the index is likely to trend sideways with a negative bias ahead of the US Fed interest rate decision on Dec 14.

"Resistance: 1,729 & 1,750. Support: 1,705 & 1,685," it said.