KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): The FBM KLCI fell 0.29% at the midday break on Thursday as mild profit-taking activities persisted and market breadth turned negative.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 5.50 points to 1,884.05.

Losers outpaced gainers by 390 to 278, while 328 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 700.45 million shares valued at RM759.49 million.

The top losers included United Plantations, Panasonic, Public Bank, Petronas Gas, Southern Acids, Advanced Packaging, Dutch Lady, HLFG.

Boustead Plantations was the most actively traded counter with 73 million shares done. The stock gained 4 sen to RM1.64.

The other actives included MAS, Berjaya Corp, Sumatec, Iris Corp.

The gainers included Nestle, Pestech, Amteck, BAT, Allianz, Aeon Credit, PPB, SCIB and Yinson.

BIMB Securities Research said Wall Street recovered on Wednesday as investors returned to bargain hunt, adding that as a result, the DJI Average gained 49 points at 16,867.51.

The research house said this was despite the US GDP shrinking 2.9% for the 1Q14, lower than consensus expectation of -1.8% as many had anticipated that the GDP figure would be weak due to the harsh winter.

However, European markets closed lower across the board as the tension in Iraq escalated, it said.

“In Asia, stocks were also broadly lower possibly due to the weak opening in Europe.

“Locally, the FBM KLCI lost 2.78 points at 1,889.55 in tandem with the regional weakness.

“There was a trickle of foreign funds inflow yesterday amounting to almost RM14 million. We foresee the local bourse to stay flat today from the lack of buying impetus. Our high market valuation currently hovering at around 17x may act as road bumps for further upside. Immediate support is seen at the 1,880 level,” it said.

Elsewhere, Asian shares swung higher on Thursday as weak U.S. growth seemed to further delay the day when interest rates might rise, prompting investors to plow funds into riskier assets in a desperate search for returns, according to Reuters.

A shockingly poor reading on the U.S. economy for the first quarter also pressured the dollar while giving a lift to most commodities and resource-related currencies. Globally, the longer term bond prices rose as investors sought out the back end of the yield curve for better returns, it said.