KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): The FBM KLCI paused in the morning session today, tracking regional markets, but managed to stay above the 1,860-point level.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI recovered some lost ground and was down 1.12 points to 1,860.10. The index had earlier dipped to a low of 1,853.97.

Losers led gainers by 379 to 219, while 562 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.19 billion shares, valued at RM757.28 million.

The top losers included Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, MISC Bhd, KLCC Property Holdings Bhd and Pharmaniaga Holdings Bhd.

The actives included QES Group Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, NWP Holdings Bhd, Karambunai Corporation Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd.

Gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd and Bermaz Auto Bhd.

Asian stocks stalled on Tuesday as Wall Street shares lost steam, while the dollar sagged on the back of declining U.S. yields, according to Reuters.

Investors were focused on U.S. inflation data due later in the day (1230 GMT) for clues on the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises this year, Reuters said.

Affin Hwang IB senior associate director and head of retail research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said regional markets are expected to trade in mixed today, as concerns about rate hikes seem bigger than positive jobs data in the US.

“Our technical analysis shows rising distribution activities in the US market. Thus we opine the upside of stocks might be limited in the near future.

“For the local market, we noted that despite recent rising of the FBM KLCI index, a handful of large- and mid-cap stocks have been retracing significantly, hence may eventually limit the upside potential of stocks.

“Trade cautiously as profit-taking activities [are] expected to rise as market rebounds,” Dr Nazri said.