KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): The FBM KLCI pared some of its losses at midday today but investor sentiment remained nervy with decliners outpacing advancers.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 5.92 points to 1,668.84. The index had earlier fallen to its intra-morning low of 1,661.03.
Losers led gainers by 440 to 229, while 327 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 731.84 million shares valued at RM730.11 million.
The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Globetronics Technology Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd and Scientex Bhd.
The actives included SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, Spring Gallery Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, JAG Bhd, Globetronics, Vivocom International Holdings Bhd and KNM Group Bhd.
The top gainers included Baru Kawan Bhd, Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, Excel Force MSC Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Pos Malaysia Bhd and Orion IXL Bhd.
The yen surged to an 18-month peak on Friday as investors wagered the Bank of Japan might be done adding fresh stimulus to the economy, hurting prospects for Japanese exporters with a move that rippled through share markets across the Asian region, according to Reuters.
Perhaps taking advantage of Japan's absence for a holiday, speculators smashed through the yen's previous top at 107.63 per dollar and drove the currency as far as 107.075, it said.
BIMB Securities Research said that in Asia, market ended mostly negative yesterday, with the Nikkei 225 closing 3.6% lower as the yen strengthened against the US dollar, last trading around 108.12 yen.
It said the Shanghai composite was off about 0.3% while the Hang Seng closed mildly higher, up 0.1% to finish at 21,388.03.
"In line with the regional market, the FBM KLCI ended lower, declined 17.58 points or 1.04% to 1,674.76.
"Trading participation shows net selling by foreign institutions while local retails and local institutions were net buyers.
"We expect the local market to remain negative today due to weaker sentiment following overnight losses in Wall Street with immediate support at 1,665," it said.