KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): The FBM KLCI ticked up at mid-morning today, amid some choppy trading earlier on, tracking regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.5 points to 1,638.90.

Gainers trailed losers by 159 to 224, while 286 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 608.22 million shares valued at RM234.92 million.

The gainers included ViTrox Corp Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Genetec Technology Bhd, Oriental Holdings Bhd and Genting Bhd.

The actives included Mestron Holdings Bhd, Greatech Technology Bhd, HPMT Holdings Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd and Prestariang Bhd.

The losers included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Can-One Bhd, YNH Property Holdings Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd and Lafarge Malaysia Bhd.

Investor caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting capped Asian stocks on Tuesday, while crude oil prices retreated as global growth worries overshadowed supply concerns stemming from recent Middle East tensions, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.05%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said that in the US, market participants are likely to remain on the sidelines and deploy a defensive approach this week on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and G20 summit, watching out for any signals related to the interest rate outlook (in theory, lower rates would boost economic growth) moving forward and the trade progress between the US and China respectively.

"The trading range of the Dow is likely to be located around 25,500-26,500.

"On the local front, we expect the sentiment to remain soft as investors may extend the defensive stance at this moment ahead of the FOMC meeting.

"Also, without any fresh leads on the US-China trade progress, we believe the traders may stay [on the] side-lines until end of the month to understand any significant progress on the trade war status during the G20 summit.

"Nevertheless, traders may look out for export-oriented stocks for a short-term trading opportunity as the USDMYR is hovering near the RM4.17/USD," it said.