KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains at the midday break today, as regional markets retreated slightly.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 5.02 points to 1,638.46. The index had earlier risen to its intra-morning high of 1,639.12.

The gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Scientex Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Panasonic Malaysia Manufacturing Bhd, Time Dotcom Bhd, C.I. Holdings Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd and KESM Industries Bhd.

The actives included Nexgram Holdings Bhd, Instacom Group Bhd, The Media Shoppe Bhd, APFT Bhd, Tiger Synergy Bhd and Aemulus Holdings Bhd.

The losers included United Plantations Bhd, Shangri-La Hotels (Malaysia) Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Ajiya Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery (M) Holdings Bhd and Sasbadi Holdings Bhd.

Asian stocks surrendered earlier gains to hit 3-1/2-year lows on Friday, as renewed pressure on oil prices and disappointing Chinese data kept investors on edge, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.3% to the lowest level since June 2012, and was on track for a loss of 2.7% for the week, it said.

AffinHwang Capital Research said bearish sentiments from China’s sell-offs, yuan devaluation and tensions in the middle east, may drag our local market lower.

It said the weak ringgit, sliding oil price and continuous strength of the US dollar, pose negative catalysts for local market.

“The FBM KLCI continues to consolidate, mainly due to external factors.

“Stocks in general has reached oversold level, might move sideways with upward bias in the near term, Buy on dips,” 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.)