KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): The FBM KLCI extended its loss at mid-morning today and dipped 0.29% in line with the pause at regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI fell 5.33 points to 1,817.59.

Losers led gainers by 274 to 228, while 358 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.13 billion shares valued at RM442.29 million.

The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Genting Bhd, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd. 

The actives included UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd, PUC Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, Trive Property Group Bhd, Diversified Gateway Solutions Bhd and Orion IXL Bhd.

The gainers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Kim Loong Resources Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, My E.G.Services Bhd, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bdh and Petronas Dagangan Bhd.

The New Year rally in Asian shares ran out of steam on Thursday as concerns about the U.S. administration's protectionist stance hit Wall Street while U.S. bonds were dented by speculation China may curtail buying, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.1 percent in early trade, slipping further from Tuesday's 10-year peak. Japan's Nikkei lost 0.6 percent, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders’ brief said Wall Street’s uptrend managed to sustain over past months on the back of tax reform, positive outlook of synchronized growth in global economy and favourable corporate earnings growth coupled with active share buy backs and capital expenditure.

“However, the recent spikes in bond yields could suggest potential range bound consolidation (24.8-25.5 levels) ahead of the 1Q18 reporting season, which will begin next week.

“On the local front, we expect further consolidation after KLCI hitting recent high at 1840.

“We believe the recent run-up likely to be overstretched as the key index has surged 114 pts since its trough on 5 Dec. Nevertheless, with the Brent oil prices approaching US$70/barrel, we may see extended trading activities  on O&G counters,” it said.