KUALA LUMPUR (June 4): The FBM KLCI pared its earlier losses in line with the firmer regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 0.16 points to 1,756.22. The index had earlier slipped to its intra-morning low of 1,745.75.

Losers edged gainers by 298 to 279, while 555 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.6 billion shares valued at RM1.21 billion.

The top losers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, My E.G. Services Bhd (MyEG), Kretam Holdings Bhd, Genting Bhd and PPB Group Bhd.

The actives included MyEG, Sapura Energy Bhd, Eduspec Holdings Bhd, Ewein Bhd, Opcom Holdings Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd and Genting Malaysia Bhd.

The gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Perusahaan Sadur Timah Malaysia (Perstima) Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd and RHB Bank Bhd.

Asian shares rose to their highest level in 2½ weeks on Monday as strong US jobs data offset worries that tariff wars between the United States and the rest of the world could drag on global economic growth, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1% to a high last seen on May 17, while Japan's Nikkei rose 1.3%, it said.

CIMB IB Research has cut its end-2018 KLCI target to 1,767 (based on 15.4x P/E) from 1,820 points previously and said 2018 is off to a weak start as corporate earnings revision ratio deteriorates to 0.31x in 1Q18 after two consecutive quarters of gains (4Q17: 0.68x and 3Q17: 0.43x).

In a strategy note today, the research house said earnings growth momentum slowed to 3% year-on-year in 1Q18 from 11% in 4Q17.

"This led us to downgrade our KLCI earnings by 3% for FY18F, resulting in slower KLCI earnings growth of 5% for FY18F (vs. 8% previously) and 8% for FY19," it added.