KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 31): The FBM KLCI fell 0.76% at mid-morning on the final trading day of 2019, tracking the overnight decline at Wall Street as well as mixed regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI lost 12.26 points to 1,603.41.

Losers led gainers by 353 to 170, while 294 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 641.9 million shares valued at RM325.48 million.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, G3 Global Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, PPB Group Bhd and British American Tobacco (M) Bhd.

The actives included TDM Bhd, Rimbunan Sawit Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Dynaciate Group Bhd and Salcon Bhd.

The gainers included Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Cypark Resources Bhd and Mycron Steel Bhd.

Reuters said Asian shares slipped on the last trading day of the decade, echoing falls on Wall Street, as investors locked in gains made since the United States and China reached a preliminary trade deal earlier this month.

Early in the Asian trading session, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.39%, its weakest performance since Dec 4. For the month, the index is still up 5.7%, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian markets were mixed yesterday, as investors await updates on the signing of a trade deal between the US and China.

It said the FBM KLCI continued its gain by rising 5.06 points (+0.31%) to close at 1,615.67.

"Chart-wise, the index is still holding itself to trade above all of its key SMAs.

"Coupled with a bullish signal from MACD, there may be more upside potential.

"From here, we expect the index to test resistance levels at 1,630 (R1) and 1,650 (R2). Meanwhile, support levels to watch out for are 1,550 (S1) and 1,540 (S2)," it said.