KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): The FBM KLCI rose at the midday break in choppy trade amidst chatter of a Cabinet re-shuffle, said to be announced later this afternoon.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI advanced 1.73 points to 1,711.49. The index had earlier fallen to a low of 1,701.15.

Market breadth was however negative with 478 losers and 235 gainers, while 312 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.21 billion shares, valued at RM1.09 billion.

The top gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, Karex Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Oriental Food Holdings Bhd and Genting Bhd.

The top actives included Sunway Construction Group Bhd, Ikhmas Jaya Group Bhd, APFT Bhd, Frontken Corporation Bhd, Datasonic Group Bhd and IFCA MSC Bhd.

The losers included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Tahps Group Bhd, Tasek Corporation Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Southern Acids Bhd, NCB Holdings Bhd and Lay Hong Bhd.

Asian stocks fell to three-week lows on Tuesday, as a deepening rout in Chinese stocks erased risk appetite — sending investors flocking to safe-haven instruments, such as government bonds and the Japanese yen, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8 percent in early deals — its lowest level since July 9, as mainland Chinese indexes opened 2-5 percent lower, it said.

BIMB Securities Research said the spill-over effect caused most key regional markets to end lower yesterday.

It said the local market was no exception, where the FBMKLCI was down 11 points or 0.64% to 1,709.76, dragged down mainly by banking stocks.

“Trading participation saw net selling by foreign institutions and local retail, while local institutions were net buyers.

“We reckon the local market to negative today, following the dampened sentiment all over the world, caused by major sell-off in China and continuous outflow of foreign investors.

“We expect the index to test its critical support level at 1,700,” it said.