KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): The main index of Bursa Malaysia pared some of its loss in the mid-morning today, but broader market sentiment remained tepid.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.94 points at 1,494.83. The index earlier slipped to a low of 1,489.66.

Broader sentiment was tepid with 343 losers and 307 gainers, while 365 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 1.22 billion shares valued at RM649.03 million.

The top decliners included Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd, Chin Teck Plantations Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Duopharma Biotech Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd and Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB). 

The actively traded stocks included Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd, Iris Corp Bhd, Kanger International Bhd, MMAG Holdings Bhd, XOX Bhd, Pintaras Jaya Bhd and Fintec Global Bhd.

The gainers included Scientex Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, G3 Global Bhd, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, UWC Bhd, Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd and Dufu Technology Corp Bhd.

Reuters said Asian markets were little changed today as a US stimulus deal remained out of reach and investors waited for fresh US employment data for a read of the economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic.

US markets kicked off the fourth quarter (4Q) by closing higher yesterday, while the US dollar sank, as investors tracked stimulus talk updates throughout the day. The September employment report from the US Department of Labor looms large, following new lay-off announcements from the likes of Disney and Goldman Sachs, it said.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd in its daily market report said Wall Street was mixed overnight as the authorities failed to finalise the stimulus package as many had hope for.

It said though the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat at 27,817, up a mere 35 points, tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped by 159 points to almost the 11,130 mark.

“In view of this, we expect regional markets to be rather mixed today, with a lack of fresh leads.

 “Locally, the KLCI, which succumbed to some selling pressure due to uncertainties on the political front and rising Covid-19 cases, is expected to be listless today.

“We reckon the index to possibly trend within the 1,500-1,510 range today,” it said.