KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 8): The FBM KLCI dipped at mid-morning today, weighed by select blue chips as the local market remained lacklustre despite the uptick at more regional markets.
At 10.01am, the FBM KLCI dipped 1.58 points to 1,687.99. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,691.59.
The top losers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Panasonic Malaysia Manufacturing Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Oriental Interest Bhd, Amway Holdings (M) Bhd, Atlan Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd and UMW Holdings Bhd.
The actives included Sanichi Technologies Bhd, NWP Holdings Bhd, Dagang Nexchange Bhd, Kronologi Asia Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, Censof Holdings Bhd and Comintel Corp Bhd.
The gainers included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Scientex Bhd, Salutica Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Hing Leong Industries Bhd, SCGM Bhd and Press Metal Bhd.
Asian shares hovered near one-year peaks on Thursday as investors awaited Chinese trade data and a policy meeting by the European Central Bank, where it may announce an extension of its asset buying campaign, according to Reuters.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2 percent, but that followed four days of gains which took it to the highest since late July 2015, it said.
Hong Leong IB Research said speculation that the Fed will not raise rate this month, growing focus on the upcoming Budget 2017 (21 Oct) coupled with the readiness of Bank Negara Malaysia to support economic growth via easing are likely to bode well for the overall market in the short to medium term to test 1700-1717 upside targets.