KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): The FBM KLCI lost 0.98% at midday break today as regional markets gyrated wildly on varying White House statements over the US-China trade deal.

At 12.30pm, the KLCI was 14.87 points lower at 1,496.37.

Decliners led gainers by 379 to 246, while 628 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 4.65 billion shares valued at RM1.65 billion.

The top losers included Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, QL Resources Bhd, British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, IHH Healthcare Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd and Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd.

The actives included Iris Corp Bhd, Trive Property Group Bhd, Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd, MQ Technology Bhd, DGB Asia Bhd, Anzo Holdings Bhd, PDZ Holdings Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd.

The gainers included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, BLD Plantation Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Muda Holdings Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd and Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd.

Reuters said Asian shares see-sawed in a wild ride today following confusing statements from the White House over the US-China trade deal, with US President Donald Trump later clarifying that the pact was "fully intact".

Trump's tweet bolstered market sentiment, helping e-minis for the S&P 500 swing back to positive territory. Asian shares were quick to turn around too, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan up 0.7%, Reuters reported.

Kenanga Research said Asian stock markets ended mixed as investors continued to stay cautious given the rising Covid-19 cases in the US yesterday.

Meanwhile, it said China had kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged.

It said back home, the KLCI gained 3.98 points (+0.26%) to finish at 1,511.24.

“Following the formation of a 'golden cross', the index managed to close the gap that was opened during the mid-March market meltdown, which sees it now trading above all of its key simple moving averages (SMAs).

“On the chart, our support levels are identified at 1,450 (S1) and 1,410 (S2).

“On the upside, our resistance levels are at 1,530 (R1) and 1,590 (R2),” it said.