KUALA LUMPUR (June 16): The FBM KLCI pared some of its gains at the midday break today as regional markets mostly remained listless.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was up 2.63 points to 1,792.64. The index had earlier risen to its intra-morning high of 1,796.75.

Losers led gainers by 449 to 266, while 389 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.03 billion shares valued at RM807.64 million.

The gainers included Kotra Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Aluminium Company of Malaysia Bhd, HCK Capital Group Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Teo Guan Lee Corp Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.

The actives included NetX Holdings Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, SMTrack Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, Frontken Corporation Bhd, Anzo Holdings Bhd, APFT Bhd and Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd.

The losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, United U-Li Corp Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Atlan Holdings Bhd, Genting Bhd, UMS Holdings Bhd, Top Glove Corporation Bhd and Boustead Holdings Bhd.

Asian stocks were little changed on Friday, as investors searched for catalysts in the wake of a resumption of the US technology rout overnight, according to Reuters.

The Japanese yen remained near a two-week low against the US dollar after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged as expected even as its US counterpart signalled further tightening, it said.

AffinHwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI index is anticipated to take a breather soon, but the underlying trend remains bullish.

"Accumulate stocks on price weakness," it said.