KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 25): The FBM KLCI retreated at the midday break today as investor sentiment at the local market turned negative and losers outpaced gainers.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI reversed its earlier gains and was down 0.31 points to 1,770.73. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,772.19.

The trend at the local bourse this morning was consistent with the foreign selling of Malaysian equity last week.

Foreign investors offloaded RM477.7 million of Malaysian equity last week, wiping off the prior week’s inflow of RM345.1 million, according to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research.

Top losers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Visdynamics Holdings Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Atlan Holdings Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Spritzer Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd and BIMB Holdings Bhd.

The actives included Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Scomi Group Bhd, Trive Property Group Bhd, NetX Holdings Bhd, MMAG Holdings Bhd, Sterling Progress Bhd, Sino Hua-An International Bhd, Daya Materials Bhd and UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd.

The gainers included Petronas Gas Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, Magni-Tech Industries Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, Poh Kong Holdings Bhd, Amway Holdings (M) Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd and Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd.

The euro slipped on Monday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term, but faced a fractured parliament as support for the far-right surged, while Asian shares pulled back, weighed by concerns about China's economy, according to Reuters.

The New Zealand dollar also took a hit as the Pacific country's ruling National Party won the largest number votes in a weekend election, but failed to secure a ruling majority, with a protracted period of coalition building now a possibility, Reuters said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian markets were rattled last Thursday, after S&P downgraded China’s sovereign credit rating to A+ from AA-, citing the credit growth was still too fast and could hurt its ability to handle financial shocks.

The research house said the one notch downgrade put S&P’s rating in line with Moody’s and Fitch.

Locally, it said the FBM KLCI was heading towards extended weekend, sliding 2.54 points or 0.14% lower to close at 1,771.04.

Kenanga Research said market breadth was negative, as 473 losers outpaced 384 gainers, while 392 shares traded unchanged.

“Chartwise, the index has formed a long black body candlestick with short lower and upper shadow, as the index opened marginally higher but slid deeper into the red later that day.

“From a charting perspective, the MACD is beginning to cross below its Signal-line, reflecting negative momentum in the short term.

“However, with the overall technical picture remaining positive and the index just right above the support level of 1,770 (S1), we expect bargain hunting activity to take place. In case of a break down, the next support level is located at 1,760 (S2). Conversely, resistance levels to watch [for] are 1,796 (R1) and 1,840 (R2),” the research house said.