KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 11): The FBM KLCI saw limited gains at the midday break on Thursday as regional markets treaded cautiously on renewed concerns over the Middle East.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI edged up 0.36 points to 1,871.21.
The top gainers included BAT, United Plantations, IQ Group, SCGM, Melewar, Scientex, Petronas Dagangan, KPS, KESM, Hong Leong Industries and Aeon Credit.
The actively traded stocks included Reach Energy, Sumatec, Tiger Synergy, Iris Corp, Sona Petroleum, Efficient, Melewar, DGB Asia, Daya Materials and Tek Seng.
The decliners included KLK, HLFG, Lafarge Malaysia, Shangri-La, Hong Leong Capital, Yong Tai, TSH Resources, Ibraco and SapuraKencana.
Regionally, Asian shares edged down on Thursday after U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to fight Islamic State militants, while the dollar pulled away from six-year highs against the yen, according to Reuters.
Obama told Americans in a speech late on Wednesday that he had authorised U.S. air strikes for the first time in Syria and more attacks in Iraq in a broad escalation of a campaign against the Islamic State militant group, it said.
BIMB Securities Research said enthusiasm over Apple boosted buying sentiments on Wall Street amid concerns of imminent higher rates.
It said the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.84 points to 17,068.71 while the benchmark 10-year yield increased to 2.543%.
Meanwhile, the research house European markets were flat on worries over Scotland crucial vote on independence and the escalating rates in the US.
It said Asian markets were also spooked by the rates expectations in the US as profit taking dominated trades as most major Asian bourses ended in negative territory.
The research house said that in line with the regional weaknesses, the FBM KLCI was down 3.27 points at 1,870.85 mainly attributed to foreign selling.
“Yesterday there was a net foreign outflow of RM94.6 million.
“Due to the lack of positive leads, we envisage a lacklustre FBM KLCI trapped within the 1,865/70 range over the immediate term,” it said.