KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 4): The FBM KLCI remained in the negative zone at the midday break on the first trading day of 2016, weighed by losses at index-linked banking stocks and other blue chips.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI lost 1.23% or 20.52 points to 1,671.99.

Market breadth turned weaker with losers outpacing gainers by 471 to 293, while 311 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 856.11 million shares, valued at RM586.03 million.

The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Genting Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.

The actively-traded stocks included Instacom Group Bhd, Tiger Synergy Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, RGB International Bhd, Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated Bhd, Red Sena Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd.

The gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Petron Malaysian Refining and Marketing Bhd, Inari Amertron Bhd, Globetronics Technology Bhd, Teck Guan Perdana Bhd and Keck Seng (Malaysia) Bhd.

Asian shares and currencies fell on Monday on the first day of trading in 2016, after China factory activity contracted and the yuan weakened, while oil prices jumped as much as 3% on rising tensions in the Middle East, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.7%, after shedding nearly 12% in 2015, as China's cooling economy took a toll on its trade-reliant Asian neighbours and global commodity prices, it said.

BIMB Securities Research said Asian markets also had an uninspired finish on the last trading day of 2015, as investors kept an eye on oil prices for further clues going into 2016, after a turbulent year for stocks.

The research house said in line with other regional market, the FBM KLCI slipped 0.63 points or 0.04% to 1,692.51, as the weak ringgit and slide in crude oil prices impacted investor sentiment.

“Trading participation shows net buyer by foreign institutions, while local institutions and local retail were net sellers.

“We expect the local market to trend sideways, with the index hovering around 1,690-1,700,” it added.

(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.)