KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): The FBM KLCI dipped 0.41% at the midday break today as sellers outpaced buyers, after the US Department of Justice moved to sue on Wednesday to seize more than US$1 billion in assets they said were tied to money stolen from state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

At 12.30 p.m., the benchmark index lost 6.89 points to 1,662.72.

Losers beat gainers by 511 to 157, while 317 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 918.32 million shares, valued at RM574.44 million.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Lingjkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, UMW Holdings and Hong Leong Bank Bhd.

The actives included Borneo Oil Bhd, Sanichi Technology Bhd, Hiap Teck Venture Bhd, PDZ Holdings Bhd, XOX Bhd, Dancomech Bhd, Asia Media Group Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.

The gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment Bhd, Panasonic Malaysia Manufacturing Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Enra Group Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd.

Asian stocks climbed to nine-month highs on Thursday, helped by a pickup in capital inflows and a recovery in global oil prices, while the dollar stood strong on growing bets of a U.S. rate increase as early as September, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3%, its highest level since October 2015 after earnings overnight helped push both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 to record highs. It has gained 10% over the last month, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said that in line with the weaker regional markets performance, the FBM KLCI slipped 0.94 points (0.056%) to close at 1,669.61 on high trading volume.

It said the weaker ringgit against key global currencies also dampened investors’ sentiment.

Nonetheless, the research house said the overall market breadth was leaning towards bulls as of yesterday’s closing, with 435 advancers versus 366 decliners with 370 counters unchanged.

“Technically speaking, the FBM KLCI is consolidating towards its support trend line of 1,662 (S1), after the formation of a ‘Spinning Top’ candlestick two days ago.

“The retracement came in tandem with the waning relative strength index and Stochastic, indicating that buying momentum is slowing down.

“From here, the local bourse is expected to trade sideways this week, to take a breather from its recent uptrend to neutralise its overbought condition,” it said.