KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The FBM KLCI fell 0.41% at midday break today, in line with the drop at most regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 7.57 points to 1,815.35. The index had earlier fallen to its intra-morning low of 1,814.13.

Losers led gainers by 532 to 158, while 585 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 2.57 billion shares, valued at RM1.39 billion.

The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Genting Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd.

The actives included UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, PUC Bhd, P.A. Resources Bhd, Diversified Gateway Solutions Bhd, Orion IXL Bhd and Sino Hua-An International Bhd.

The gainers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd, AYER Holdings Bhd, Zhulian Corp Bhd, My E.G. Services Bhd, Amway Holdings (M) Bhd and Allianz Malaysia Bhd.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets dropped on Thursday, tracking Asia and Wall Street overnight which snapped a six-day rally on investor concerns that China, the world's biggest holder of U.S. Treasuries, might slow or halt its bond buying, according to Reuters.

Affin Hwang IB senior associate director and head of retail research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the local market is anticipated to remain buoyant, backed by better domestic’s economic outlook.

He said pullbacks may appear to be short lived, as underlying strengths of current pre-GE14 rally pick up steadily.

“Technically, the FBM KLCI is on impulse “wave 3” with the upside target range of between 1870-1900 levels.

“Immediate support range expected to be between 1820-1800. Buy quality stocks on price weakness,” Dr Nazri said.