KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): The FBM KLCI remained in the negative zone at mid-morning today in line with the sluggish regional markets.

At 10.10am, the FBM KLCI fell 4.12 points to 1,673.16.

The top losers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd, Fiamma Holdings Bhd and Genting Bhd.

The actives included SKH Consortium Bhd, APFT Bhd, Comintel Corporation Bhd, Xidelang Holdings Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, RGB International Bhd and Hubline Bhd.

The gainers included DanaInfra Nasional Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, TAHPS Group Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd and MISC Bhd.

Asian shares were on the back foot on Wednesday as a nascent recovery in the oil market lost momentum after Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi effectively ruled out production cuts by major producers anytime soon, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%, slipping further from Monday's six-week high while Japan's Nikkei shed 1.4%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said following overnight sluggish Dow's and oil prices' performance coupled with FBM KLCI's inability to stage a decisive breakout above 200-d SMA, Bursa Malaysia is expected to trap in its triangle consolidation for a while until the 1,683–1,700 (downtrend line) resistance zones are taken out decisively.

"Key supports are 1,650–1,662," it said.