KUALA LUMPUR (April 4): The FBM KLCI hovered below the 1,850-point level, tracking faltering key regional markets, weighed by banking stocks and select index-linked blue chips.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI fell 4.56 points to 1,846.22.

Losers led gainers by 256 to 235, while 305 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 449.46 million shares valued at RM249.43 million.

The decliners included Nestle (M) Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Padini Holdings Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Rohas Tecnic Bhd.

The actives included PUC Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, EA Holdings Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd and SKH Consortium Bhd.

The gainers included Top Glove Corp Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Scientex Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd and UMS-Neiken Group Bhd.

Asian share markets faltered on Wednesday as simmering fears of a Sino-US trade war overshadowed a bounce on Wall Street and left investors reluctant to take positions in anything, according to Reuters.

Safe-haven bonds, gold and the yen had run into selling as Wall Street benefited from bets that President Donald Trump's Twitter attacks on Amazon would not translate to actual policy, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders' brief said tracking the Wall Street overnight positive move, bargain-hunting activities may emerge and stocks on Bursa Malaysia may rebound in tandem.

"Traders should look out for opportunities within the severely oversold small cap and lower liners with solid fundamentals," it said.