KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): The FBM KLCI was down 6.04 points or 0.36% to 1,667.88 at the midday close as major Asian markets fell for a second day as the US election nears and investors remained concerned that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.

The benchmark index was traded between 1,666.25 and 1,674.2 this morning, with 804.33 million shares changing hands for a total value of RM603.07 million.

Gainers were led by selected industrial players such as Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, Melati Ehsan Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, Teck Guan Perdana Bhd, Harrisons Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd and E.A. Technique (M) Bhd.

Meanwhile, Fraser and Neave Holdings Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries and Public Bank Bhd were among the top losers.

Actively traded stocks included Sumatec Resources Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, Trive Property Group Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, XOX Bhd and Asia Bioenergy Technologies Bhd.

"Following the lacklustre performance in the US and Europe, the KLCI is expected to remain flat below the resistance of 1,700 points," JF Apex Research said in a note today.

According to Bloomberg, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 0.7% as of 1:39pm Tokyo time, with a gauge of energy shares sliding 1.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng led losses among regional benchmarks with a 1.2% decline, while Japan's Topix index retreated from its highest close since April.