KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): The main index of Bursa Malaysia reversed its earlier gains and fell in the mid-morning today, tracking regional losses ahead of the national holiday tomorrow, as global coronavirus cases kept rising.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI had fallen 5.60 points to 1,494.75. The index earlier climbed to a high of 1,505.64.

Losers overtook gainers by 435 to 237, while 408 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 1.17 billion shares valued at RM852.73 million.

The top losers included Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, JF Technology Bhd, MISC Bhd, Bursa Malaysia Bhd and SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included Vortex Consolidated Bhd, AT Systematization Bhd, Dataprep Holdings Bhd. Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd and Ho Wah Genting Bhd.

The gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd, MBM Resources Bhd, LBI Capital Bhd, Greatech Technology Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK).

Reuters said Asian markets looked set for another weaker open today as worries about a surge in coronavirus cases and dwindling hopes for a US stimulus package kept investors gloomy.

Australia's ASX 200 opened down about 0.43%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures were down 0.36%. The Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.04% yesterday. The futures contract was down 0.62% from that close, it said.

Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd sees limited market movements over the near term due to continuing wariness over the Covid-19 situation and a lack of new leads for market players to follow.

In its daily bulletin today, the research house said for the most part, the market’s condition was also indifferent after the recent selldown with weak buying impetus due to lingering economic and political uncertainties that could keep most market players guarded for longer.

“Consequently, we think that the KLCI is likely to remain range-bound with the key index set to linger around the 1,500-point level in relatively thin trading.

“The immediate support is at 1,490 points, which is followed by the 1,480 level. Meanwhile, the resistance [levels] are at 1,508 and 1,520 respectively,” it said.