KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): The FBM KLCI fell 0.52% at mid-morning as trading at the local market remained subdued ahead of the extended weekend for the Labour Day leave.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI lost 8.61 points to 1,666.15.

The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Globetronics Technology Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Scientex Bhd, Genting Bhd and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd.

The actives included SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, JAG Bhd, Spring Gallery Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, Karambunai Corp Bhd and KNM Group Bhd.

The gainers included Genting Plantations Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Gadang Holdings Bhd, Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd, KLLC Property Holdings Bhd and SapuraKencana.

The yen held onto hefty gains on Friday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) surprised markets by declining to adopt fresh stimulus, while an Apple-inspired slide on Wall Street soured sentiment in stock markets, according to Reuters.

The absence of Tokyo for a holiday was a welcome relief to many given the pandemonium caused by Thursday's BoJ decision, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said following the long black candlestick pattern and bearish technical oscillators, the FBM KLCI's near-term technical outlook will remain grim unless it can stage a decisive breakout above 1,700 psychological barrier again.

"Given the long weekend Labour day holidays, bearish overnight Dow close, weakening FBM KLCI technical stance and the revisited 1MDB risk, we expect the FBM KLCI to test lower key supports at 1,650–1,665 levels.

"Immediate resistances are 1,680–1,700," it said.