KUALA LUMPUR (May 22): The FBM KLCI retreated at midday break today, tracking regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI shed 2.91 points to 1,850.67.

Losers led gainers by 347 to 237, while 541 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.15 billion shares, valued at RM986.98 million.

Top losers in the morning session included Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd and Deleum Bhd.

Actives included NetX Holdings Bhd, My E.G. Services Bhd, Spura Energy Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Borneo Oil Bhd, YTL Power International Corp Bhd, WCT Holdings Bhd and UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd.

Gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, Gamuda Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd.

Asian shares skidded on Tuesday as a strong dollar sapped demand for emerging market assets, while surging oil prices stoked concerns about a flare-up in inflation and faster U.S. interest rate increases, according to Reuters.

Japan's Nikkei was mostly flat, while Australian shares fell 0.9%. Chinese shares opened in the red with the blue-chip CSI300 off 0.7%, Reuters said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said overnight spike in US market perceives to be short lived as it merely based on sentiments that US-China trade talks might have made good progress.

It said technically, major markets, including US, Europe and Hong Kong, are showing signs of consolidation, thus any near term spikes would be seen as short-term noises by the market.

“For the local market, the FBM KLCI Index continues moving sideways with steady selling pressure, mostly by foreign investors.

This is in line with our view that technically, the index is likely to consolidate in the near future, as technical indicators are showing slightly mixed signals with downward bias.

“Nonetheless, long-term investors might focus on oil & gas stocks and small-caps, which have corrected sufficiently in their recent consolidation,” the research house said.