KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): The FBM KLCI gave up some of its gains at mid-morning today, in line with the jittery regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was up 2.10 points to 1,848.49. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,848.61.

Losers led gainers by 317 to 206, while 303 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 519.85 million shares valued at RM183.97 million.

The gainers included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Magni-Tech Industries Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Can-One Bhd, Scientex Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd, Brahim’s Holdings Bhd, Pos Malaysia Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and Hong Leong Bank Bhd.

The actives included NetX Holdings Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Brahim’s, Vizione Holdings Bhd, Dagang NeXchange Bhd, NWP Holdings Bhd and SKH Consortium Bhd.

The decliners included Nestle (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Far East Holdings Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd and Computer Forms (M) Bhd.

Asian share markets got off to a hesitant start on Monday for a week in which the Federal Reserve is likely to deliver a hike in U.S. interest rates and perhaps signal that as many as three more lie in store for the rest of the year, according to Reuters.

Japan's Nikkei took an early 0.3 percent drop as exporters were hit by recent broad-based gains in the yen, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in traders’ brief said as President Trump’s protectionist measure over the past weeks could trigger a potential trade war, we opine that Wall Street may trend sideways.

“Moreover, investors could also take a wait-and-see stance ahead of the FOMC meeting, which may provide an outlook on the interest rate for the rest of the year.

“The Dow may range between 24,500-25,500.

“With the cautious external market setup environment continues to mount pressure on regional performance and local bourse, coupled with a few major events such as dissolution of parliament and the GE14, we believe traders may extend their sidelines view on the market and deploying a selling-into-strength strategy over the near term,” it said.