KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 22): The FBM KLCI retreated at the midday break today as investor sentiment turned cautious ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting later today as well as the tabling of Budget 2016 tomorrow.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 2.84 points to 1,704.27.

Losers outpaced gainers by 397 to 328, while 307 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.32 billion shares valued at RM880.63 million.

The top losers included Oriental Interest Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, NPC Resources Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Sungei Bagan Rubber Company (Malaya) Bhd, SHL Consolidated Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included The Media Shoppe Bhd, China Automobile Parts Holdings Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, UEM Sunrise Bhd, XOX Bhd, JCY International Bhd and Supermax Corporation Bhd.

The top gainers included DanaInfra Nasional Bhd, Brahim's Holdings Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, TIME dotCom Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd and Inari Amertron Bhd.

Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after a sharp fall in mainland Chinese shares rekindled worries about the health of China's economy, while investors awaited word from the ECB about its plans regarding additional stimulus, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan and Japan's Nikkei pared earlier losses to hold steady at 0247 GMT, it said.

BIMB Securities Research said that in Asia, key indices ended mostly higher yesterday with strong gains in Japan on expectations that the BOJ may undertake further easing at its policy meeting end of this month.

Locally, it said the FBM KLCI closed flattish, added 2.08 points or 0.12% to 1,707.11, lifted mainly by banking and gaming stocks.

"Trading participation saw net buying by foreign institutions while local institutions and retail were net sellers.

"We believe the local market shall continue to trend sideways with slight bias to up-trend due to the returning of foreign investors and expect to see immediate resistance at 1,710/1,715," 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.)