KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): The FBM KLCI fell at the midday break and was down 0.48%, in line with the subdued regional markets, weighed by losses at select blue chips.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI lost 8.19 points to 1,684.31. The index had earlier climbed to its intra-morning high of 1,694.91.

Losers outpaced gainers by 399 to 264, while 330 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.02 billion shares valued at RM758.83 million.

The top losers included British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Concrete Engineering Products Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Genting Bhd, Spring Gallery Bhd, Alliance Financial Group Bhd, MISC Bhd, Vitrox Corporation Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd and RHB Capital Bhd.

The actives included AirAsia X Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, Spring Gallery shares and warrants, Borneo Oil Bhd, Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd and Sumatec Resources Bhd.

The top gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd and MNRB Holdings Bhd.

Asian stocks were subdued on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious ahead of US and Japanese central bank policy decisions, while crude oil prices hovered near 2016 highs, according to Reuters.

Japan's Nikkei lost 0.6% as Japan-based suppliers of iPhone parts fell after Apple Inc reported its first-ever decline in iPhone sales and its first revenue drop in over a decade overnight, it said.

BIMB Securities Research said that in Asia, stocks ended mixed as investors remained cautious ahead of central-bank meetings this week in Japan and the US.

It said that back home, the FBM KLCI ended lower, losing 22.01 points or 1.28% to 1,692.50, dragged down mainly by telco and gaming stocks.

"Trading participation saw net selling by foreign institutions while local institutions and retail were net buyers.

"We reckon the local market to trend sideways slight bias to downtrend due to mixed global sentiment and expect the index to trend between 1,690–1,695," it said.