KUALA LUMPUR (April 4): The FBM KLCI stayed in the negative zone at the midday break today while the technology index on Bursa Malaysia took a beating as the US proposed imposing 25% tariffs on high-tech items from China.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 3.30 points to 1,847.48. The technology index lost 3.07% to 30.30 points.

Losers led gainers by 410 to 146, while 564 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 984.91 million shares valued at RM734.86 million.

The top losers included KESM Industries Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Uchi Technologies Bhd and Lafarge Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included PUC Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, EA Holdings Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd and Comfort Gloves Bhd.

The gainers included Top Glove Corp Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Lii Hen Industries Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, Sunway Construction Group Bhd and Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said a risk-on tone gripped US markets, with equities pushing to session highs and bond yields climbing on speculation that President Donald Trump's policies will not disrupt global trade and economic growth.

"The S&P 500 index rose by 1.3% to 2,614.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 389.17 points (1.7%) to 24,033.36.

"For the local market, the FBM KLCI index remains upbeat with the upcoming 'GE14' thus election related stocks are expected to be back [on] investors' radar as these stocks are anticipated to be active in the coming weeks," it said.