KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 30): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains and slipped below the crucial 1,700-point level at the midday break in line withe decline at most regional markets.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 14.23 points to 1,699.59. The index had earlier climbed to its intra-morning high of 1,706.25.
Losers outpaced gainers by 449 to 344, while 345 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.03 billion shares valued at RM887.79 million.
The top gainers included Petronas Gas Bhd, Kumpulan H&L High-Tech Bhd, Danainfra Nasional Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Oriental Food Industries Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd and My E.G. Services Bhd.
The actively traded stocks included Instacom Group Bhd, 1 Utopia Bhd, Red Sena Bhd, JAG Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, Heng Huat Resources Group Bhd and RGB International Bhd.
The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Time Dotcom Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, P.I.E. Industrial Bhd, Tahps Group Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, DKSH (M) Holdings Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Apollo Food Holdings Bhd.
Asian shares unwound early gains on Wednesday, as investors turned cautious following renewed selling in recently battered crude oil futures, according to Reuters.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan erased a positive start to edge down 0.1 percent, on track for a flat monthly performance and down 12 percent for the year, it said.
BIMB Securities Research said Asian equities closed higher on the second day of final week, after the Japanese and South Korean markets erased morning losses and the Chinese market eventually closed higher, following a volatile trading session.
It said on the local front, the FBM KLCI gained 14.63 points or 0.9% to close at 1,685.36 buying interest on some blue chips stocks such as Telcos and Banking counters.
“The local equities are expected to maintain this momentum in the final trading week of the year, following a positive finish of global markets.
“We expect the index to hover at around 1,683 – 1,690,” it said.