KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss at the midday break today, but overall market sentiment stayed negative in line with the regional downtrend following the fresh Middle East tensions.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 15.19 points to 1,596.19. The index had slipped to a low of 1,593.08.

Market breadth remained negative with 444 losers and 192 gainers, while 472 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.91 billion shares valued at RM775.82 million.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Chin Teck Plantations Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd and Heineken Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included Alam Maritim Resources Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Daya Materials Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Velesto Energy Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd and Icon Offshore Bhd.

The gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd, Oriental Interest Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Wah Seong Corp Bhd.

Reuters said a gauge of Asian shares was toppled from an 18-month top on Monday as heightened Middle East tensions sent investors scurrying for the safety of gold, which hit a near seven-year high while oil jumped to four-month peaks.

The United States detected a heightened state of alert by Iran's missile forces, as President Donald Trump warned the US would strike back, "perhaps in a disproportionate manner", if Iran attacked any American person or target, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI gained 8.88 points, or 0.6%, to close at 1,611.38 on Friday (Jan 3).

It said following the strong rejection from the 1,615 immediate resistance, the index did recoup some of the losses but were unable to close above the high of the large bearish candlestick formed on Tuesday (Dec 31, 2019) with conviction.

"This tells us that the retracement is still intact. Moving forward, anticipate the index to trade within the bearish candle (1,610.69-1,588.76) in the near term.

"A convincing breach above or below the bearish candle would give investors/traders further clues regarding the next short-term direction of the index.

"Anticipate index to trade sideways with upward bias," it said.