KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 6): The FBM KLCI charted muted gains at midday break today, as buying remained sluggish.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 2.73 points to 1,743.66. The index had earlier risen to its intra-morning high of 1,745.41.

Losers edged gainers by 332 to 301, while 488 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.47 billion shares, valued at RM847.59 million.

The top gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, MISC Bhd, PMB Technology Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Apex Healthcare Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd and Padini Holdings Bhd.

The actives included Diversified Gateway Solutions Bhd, PUC Bhd, EA Holdings Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd, Mlabs Systems Bhd and MUI Industries Bhd.
The top losers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Perusahaan Sadur Timah Malaysia Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd and Lafarge Malaysia Bhd.

Asian shares stepped away from recent decade highs on Monday, while the U.S. dollar staged a broad-based rally and oil jumped to a more-than-two-year peak as Saudi Arabia's crown prince cemented his power through an anti-corruption crackdown, according to Reuters.

Oil prices hit their highest since July 2015, as Mohammed bin Salman's purge led to arrests of royals, ministers and investors, including prominent business billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal, Reuters said.

Affin Hwang IB vice president and head of retail research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said Asian markets opened mixed today, with some kind of jittery mood in China markets, particularly Hong Kong where Hang Seng index plunged 200 points in early tradings.

He added rumours say about the possibility of China taking stern measures to curb financial euphoria in the near future.

“On the other hand, the rest of global markets remained upbeat, on the back of better global economics outlooks.

“Stocks in Bursa Malaysia are expected to drift sideways with slightly upward bias, potentially influenced by continuous improvement in global crude oil prices.

“Small- and mid-cap stocks are anticipated to continue their rotational play, while bargain hunters gradually accumulate quality stocks on price weakness,” Dr Nazri said.