KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 1): The FBM KLCI remained in negative territory at mid-morning today as sentiment at the local bourse remained cautious.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.98 points to 1,670.18.

The top losers included Aeon Credit Services (M) Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Asia File Corporation Bhd, Inari Amertron Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, Favelle Favco Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidate Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included 1 Utopia Bhd, China Stationery Ltd Bhd, XOX Bhd, Instacom Group Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Wintoni Group Bhd and China Automobile Parts Holdings Bhd.

The top gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, KLCC Property Holdings Bhd, Uzma Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd.

Asian shares edged up on Tuesday, as investors awaited Chinese factory surveys later in the session amid persistent concerns about cooling growth in the world's second-biggest economy, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3% in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.5%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said that overall, sentiment had turned more cautious after a volatile session yesterday amid profit taking after last week’s 1.2% rally and extended consolidation in FBMSCAP and FBMACE stocks.

“However, we may witness the FBM KLCI to remain well-supported near 1,650–1,663 zones this week amid Valuecap factor, year-end window dressing activities, more comfortable view on Fed’s potential liftoff in Dec and potential ECB’s stimulus,” 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.)