KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 10): The FBM KLCI reversed its earlier gains and retreated at mid-morning Friday, dragged by losses including at Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI fell 3.36 points to 1,592.29. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,597.85.

Gainers edged losers by 229 to 227,while 317 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 747.13 million shares valued at RM295.78 million.

The top losers included Petronas Gas Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, PLB Engineering Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Tenaga Nasional, Kim Him Industries Bhd and DiGi.Com Bhd.

The actives included Vortex Consolidated Bhd, Priceworth International Bhd, Dataprep Holdings Bhd, TDM Bhd, Kronologi Asia Bhd, APFT Bhd, Mudajaya Group Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd and XOX Bhd.

The gainers included KESM Industries Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Genetec Technology Bdh, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, QL Resources Bhd and Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd.

Reuters said the world's shares hit a record high on Friday as a relief over de-escalation of U.S.-Iranian tensions quickly prompted investors to bet on faster global growth, especially in the technology sector.

MSCI's broadest gauge of the world's stocks in 49 countries rose a tad to hit an all-time high and its index on Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.18%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said in the US, the positive sentiment is likely to persist premised on fading US-Iran geopolitical tensions, coupled with the House passing a resolution to curb President Trump's war powers against Iran as well as the optimistic trade front as the US and China will be signing the Phase 1 trade deal next week.

It said that in addition, with the solid jobs data and decent growth in selected technology stocks in the US, we may anticipate healthier trading tone on Wall Street.

“The Dow’s upside could be seen around 29,500-30,000.

“Despite the technical readings being slightly negative, we believe the FBM KLCI may rebound today, taking cues from the stellar Wall Street performance overnight.

“Also, with the fading geopolitical tensions, coupled with the US House passing a resolution to curb President Trump's war powers against Iran (in order to further reduce tensions in the Middle East), buying interest may return on Bursa Exchange. Trading range of the FBM KLCI will be set around 1,580-1,620,” it said.