KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): The FBM KLCI remained in negative territory at mid-morning today, in line with the wobbly regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was down 3.00 points to 1,780.66.

Losers led gainers by 245 to 231, while 305 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 667.87 million shares valued at RM254.91 million.

The top losers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd,
Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Padini Holdings Bhd, Asia Knight Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and IHH Healtcare Bhd.

The actives included Hubline Bhd, Scomi Group Bhd, Vizione Holdings Bhd, UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Scomi Energy Services Bhd, Sino Hua-An International Bhd, MMAG Holdings Bhd and PUC Bhd.

The gainers included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Lii Hen Industries Bhd, IQ Group Bhd, Choo Bee Metal Industries Bhd, Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, Amway (M) Holdings Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Yinson Holdings Bhd and MKH Bhd.

Asian shares wavered on Tuesday, bolstered by record highs on Wall Street but hobbled by uncertainty as traders waited on a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on U.S. monetary policy, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan turned slightly higher after dipping into negative territory, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders’ brief today said the current positive sentiments may remain intact for this week as news headlines are less negative and focuses on monetary policies rather than geopolitical tensions.

It said that from technical a perspective, the Dow and S&P500 are still uptrend intact position. Also, traders may focus on technology stocks within Nasdaq as it managed to revisit the all-time-high zone.

“Meanwhile, positive sentiments from the overseas market are likely to spillover towards stocks on the local bourse.

“The FBM KLCI’s upside could be capped along 1,795-1,800 with traders taking a wait-and-see stance prior to the FOMC meeting and may sell-into-strength over the near term.

“Nevertheless, oil and gas related stocks should be able to attract trading interest as WTI crude oil has closed above US$50, tracking the Brent oil which is hovering above US$55,” it said.