KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 6): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss at mid-morning today and was down 0.74% after having slumped more than 1% in early trade.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was down 11.81 points to 1,598.60. The index had earlier fallen to a low of 1,588.98.

Market breadth remained negative as losers thumped gainers by 675 to 94, while 218 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 974.02 million shares valued at RM529.83 million.

The top losers included Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd and LPI Capital Bhd.

The actives included KNM Group Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, NetX Holdings Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd and Green Packet Bhd.

The gainers included Malaysia-listed Hang Seng Index-linked put warrants.

Global stocks extended their already substantial losses and the offshore yuan hit an all-time low on Tuesday after Washington designated Beijing a currency manipulator in a rapid escalation of the US-China trade war, according to Reuters.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday the government had determined that China is manipulating its currency, and that Washington would engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate unfair competition from Beijing, it said.

Rakuten Trade in its daily market report said equity markets are expected to see some volatility today following the massive sell-down on Wall Street yesterday.

It said the Dow Jones Index lost almost 770 points on fears of repercussions from the ongoing US-China trade spat.

"In addition to this, the Chinese yuan slumped to its 10-year low at 7.05/US$1.

"In view of this, the Fed may be pressured to revise interest rates lower to counter the weakening yuan, thus we may see some temporary adjustments for now.

"Buy on weakness especially on index-linked banking stocks," it said.