KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 18): The FBM KLCI remained in negative territory at the midday break today, as profit taking halted the uptrend at the local market.

At 12:30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 6.25 points to 1,675.29.

Market breadth was mixed with 361 gainers, 308 losers and 277 unchanged counters. Volume was 997.45 million shares, valued at RM902.89 million.

The top losers included United Plantations Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd, Concrete Engineering Products Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, IOI Corporation Bhd, Oriental Holdings Bhd, Apex Healhcare Bhd, and Jaya Tiasa Holdings Bhd.

The actively-traded stocks included Aemulus Holdings Bhd, APFT Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, IFCA MSC Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd and Tiger Synergy Bhd.

The top gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, DKSH (M) Holdings Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, My E.G.Services Bhd, Eco World Development Group Bhd, Aeon Credit Services Bhd, GD Expess Carrier Bhd and Press Metal Bhd.

Asian shares rose modestly on Friday on relief the Federal Reserve held off on raising interest rates, but gains were capped by renewed concerns about the health of the global economy, in particular China, according to Reuters.

The dollar was on the defensive, having fallen more than 1% after the Fed's decision, while U.S. bond yields plunged, erasing their sharp rises in the past couple of days, it said.

BIMB Securities Research said that on earlier trading, key Asian indices ended mostly higher, on expectations the U.S. would not raise its interest rates.

It said that locally, the FBM KLCI rose 34.39 points or 2.09% to 1,681.54, lifted mainly by banking and telco counters.

“Trading participation saw net buying by foreign institutions, while local institutions and retail were net sellers.

“We expect some profit taking activities today, following 3 days of rally with immediate support at 1,665,” it said.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)