KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss at the midday break today but looked set to remain in negative zone for the next session in line with the slip at regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 2.83 point to 1,635.18. The index had earlier slipped to a low of 1,632.51.

Losers led gainers by 324 to 262, while 558 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 2.22 billion shares valued at RM1.26 billion.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Rapid Synergy Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, DWL Resources Bhd, DKLS Industries Bhd and Heineken Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included Bumi Armada Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, Seacera Group Bhd and Konsortium Transnasional Bhd.

The gainers included G3 Global Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, Genting Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd and Boustead Holdings Bhd.

Asian shares slipped on Thursday as a surprise deterioration in German and South Korean economic data rekindled fears of slowing global growth, while oil prices pulled back slightly after a sharp run-up earlier in the week, according to Reuters.

The Japanese yen weakened marginally to near 112 a dollar after the Bank of Japan kept policy unchanged at a review on Thursday but pledged to keep interest rates very low at least until early 2020, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI Index gapped up in yesterday's trading session, closing 10.57 points or 0.6% higher at 1,638.01.

"If we observe the daily chart, we can connect the highs of the current down move, forming a short-term downwards trend line.

"Note that prices are now retesting the trend line which also coincides with the 20-day EMA (exponential moving average). This area may likely be an area of interest whereby sellers may come into the picture, similar to the previous time," it said.