KUALA LUMPUR (May 29): The FBM KLCI fell 0.39% at mid-morning today as select blue chips fell amidst choppy trade this morning.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI fell 6.87 points to 1,748.69.

The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Oriental Holdings Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, IQ Group Bhd, IOI Corporation Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd and Bursa Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included Xinghe Holdings Bhd, Nova MSC Bhd, K-One Technology Bhd, Frontken Corporation Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, AirAsia Bhd and KNM Group Bhd.

The gainers included LTKM Bhd, Sam Engineering Bhd, MNRB Holdings Bhd, Microlink Solutions Bhd, Tahps Group Bhd, Inari Amertron Bhd, Super Enterprise Holdings Bhd and AirAsia.

Asian stocks were modestly higher early on Friday with investors on edge ahead of opening trade in China's markets which plunged the previous day, while the dollar took a breather from a sharp run up this week, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent after shedding more than 1 percent on Thursday. South Korean share gained 0.2 percent and Australian stocks rose 1 percent. Japan's Nikkei was flat, it said.

Hong Leonng IB Research said that in the near term, given the lack of fresh catalysts and nagging domestic issues, Bursa Malaysia is still likely to alternate between gains and losses as KLCI is in the midst building a base near 1746 (61.8% FR).

“Technically, the “Spinning Top” followed by two small hammer candlesticks could imply potential reversal signal from grossly oversold positions.

“For a resumption of uptrend, the FBM KLCI must swiftly recapture the 1792 (downtrend line from all time high of 1896). On the flipside, failure to hold near 1746 will trigger a freefall towards the 1715-1733 gap recorded on Dec 15,” it said.