KUALA LUMPUR (May 2): The FBM KLCI slumped 1.17% at mid-morning today after the country’s manufacturing conditions deteriorated for the third successive month during April.

At 10.01am, the FBM KLCI lost 21.75 points to 1,848.62.

Losers led gainers by 442 to 124, while 212 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 568.25 million shares valued at RM255.09 million.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd and IJM Corp Bhd.

The actives included Sumatec Resources Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd and Sino Hua-An International Bhd.

The gainers included UOA Development Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Far East Holdings Bdh, Yinson Holdings Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Bursa Malaysia Bdh and Tong Herr Resources Bhd.

Released this morning, the headline purhasing managers’ index (PMI), fell from 49.5 to 48.6 in April, driven by faster declines in output and new orders.

Asian equities held steady on Wednesday, while the dollar traded near a four-month high as investors await the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy statement for clues on the future pace of U.S. monetary tightening, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed, while Japan's Nikkei eased 0.2 percent and South Korea's KOSPI slipped 0.3 percent, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders’ brief said in the US, with the easing Korean Peninsular tension, coupled with the firmer-than-expected earnings season, it may provide stability for the near term.

“Nevertheless, should there be any trade talks between the US-China, it may extend the near term weakness of the Dow towards 23,000-23,500.

“Despite the positive KLCI technicals, we think sentiment on the local bourse could stay cautious ahead of the long anticipated GE14, which the outcome of the event may provide volatility to the stock markets.

“At this current juncture, we think investors may look into defensive (consumer and REITs) as well as severely oversold stocks for short term trading purposes,” it said.