KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 4): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss but was still down 1.13% at the midday break while trading volume was a hefty 11 billion shares, as index-linked glove makers fell in heavy trade.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI lost 17.75 points to 1,554.86. The index had earlier slumped to a low of 1,551.28.

Across the bourse, most of the indices were in the red. The healthcare index fell the most — down 2.20% or 90.15 points to 4,008.90.

Market breadth was negative with 470 losers and 256 gainers, while 661 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume surged to 11.06 billion shares valued at RM5.89 billion from 6.97 billion shares valued at RM4.66 billion at the Monday noon market break.

Among the top losers were Hartalega Holdings Bhd, which fell RM1.62 to RM18.88 with 14.15 million shares done, and Top Glove Corp Bhd, down RM1.28 to RM25.60 with 12.76 million shares traded.

The other losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Comfort Gloves Bhd, Bursa Malaysia Bhd and SCGM Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included mTouche Technology Bhd, AT Systematization Bhd, Key Alliance Group Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, MQ Technology Bhd and Iris Corp Bhd.

The gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, VitRox Corp Bhd, Adventa Bhd, HLT Global Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd and Notion VTec Bhd.

Reuters said Asian shares rose on Tuesday after strong US manufacturing data and gains in tech stocks helped investors look past broader worries about the coronavirus and global economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.9%, while shares in China nudged up 0.1%. Australian stocks rose 2% for the biggest intraday gain since July 21. Tokyo shares also jumped by more than 1%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said as the impact of past stimulus measures fade and given some evidence that the global recovery has already stalled amid a second wave Covid-19 infection fear coupled with intensifying US-China geopolitical conflict, it remains to be seen what will help to keep global stock markets elevated in the coming weeks.

It said on the domestic scene, lingering political uncertainty and expectations of worsening reported numbers for 2Q20 (both GDP and corporate results) are the risks that could trigger further consolidation in August.

“Technically, weighing both directions, KLCI is likely to exhibit more downside pressure than upside following a sharp fall below 1,591 (June 9 high) yesterday.

“We expect KLCI to retest lower key support near 1,563 (July 17 low) before staging a technical rebound. Key resistances are situated at 1,591, 1,600 and 1,618 (July 29 high) territory,” it said.