KUALA LUMPUR (March 29): The FBM KLCI reversed its earlier losses and rose firmly above the 1,700-point level at mid-morning.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI rose 8.16 points to 1,710.57. The index had earlier slipped to a low of 1,699.30.

The top gainers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Genting Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, P.I.E. Industrial Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd and Hong Leong Industries Bhd.

The actives included Bison Consolidated Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, Pesona Metro Holdings Bhd, Malaysian Bulk Carriers Bhd, Comintel Corporation Bhd and APFT Bhd.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd and Bursa Malaysia Bhd.

Newly-listed Bison Consolidated Bhd was the most actively traded stocks and rose 6 sen to RM1.16 with 13.57 million shares done.

The top losers included Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Alliance Financial Group Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd and Petronas Gas Bhd.

Asian shares struggled to find their footing on Tuesday after downbeat U.S. economic data contributed to an uninspiring session on Wall Street and pressured the dollar, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.05 percent after wavering for most of the early session, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said on the back of a 22.3-point pullback over the last four consecutive sessions, the FBM KLCI near term technical landscape has weakened and we anticipate a pause in momentum to digest the overbought position.

“Immediate support is the support trendline near 1696. Failure to defend this level will see the FBM KLCI to slip further towards 1670-1679 zones.

“Key resistances are 1727-1744,” it said.