KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14): The FBM KLCI remained in negative territory at the midday break today as local stocks took a beating amidst weaker regional markets and crude oil hovering at the US$35 per barrel level.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI lost 12.63 points to 1,627.51.
Losers thumped gainers by 731 to 117, while 218 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 910.16 million shares valued at RM762.12 million.
The top losers included Panasonic Malaysia Manufacturing Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd and Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd.
The actives included XOX Bhd, Red Sena Bhd, Asia Media Bhd, Genetec Technology Bhd, Instacom Group Bhd, Comfort Gloves Bhd, Tiger Synergy Bhd and Sumatec Resources Bhd.
The top gainers included Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Gas Malaysia Bhd, Pestech International Bhd, Riverview Rubber Estates Bhd, Scientex Bhd and S P Setia Bhd.
Asian stocks fell on Monday and China's yuan hit fresh 4½-year lows as plunging oil prices added to investors' nervousness about riskier assets ahead of an expected US rate rise by the Federal Reserve (Fed) later in the week, according to Reuters.
The People's Bank of China on Monday continued guiding the currency lower, setting the yuan/dollar official midpoint at its weakest since July 2011, it said.
AffinHwang Capital Research said the local market is anticipated to drift sideways within a tight range.
It said global equity market sentiments are influenced by speculation in the Fed rate hike, falling commodities prices and China's economy slowdown.
"Technically, market breadth gradually turns negative and slightly bearish for the short term," it said.
(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)