KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 4): The main index at Bursa Malaysia pared some of its loss at the midday break today but was still down 0.38% as market sentiment remained tepid on profit-taking activities.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI dropped 6.16 points to 1,622.10. The index had earlier slipped to a low of 1,618.75.

Losers led gainers by 485 to 330, while 786 counters traded unchanged. Trading volume was 8.85 billion shares valued at RM3.64 billion.

The decliners included Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Khind Holdings Bhd, Magni-Tech Industries Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd and Heineken Malaysia Bhd.

The actively traded stocks included Yong Tai Bhd, Metronic Global Bhd, Ho Wah Genting Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Pegasus Heights Bhd, KNM Group Bhd and Kanger International Bhd.

The gainers included Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, MBM Resources Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, PMB Technology Bhd and My EG Services Bhd.

Hong Leong IB Research said following a powerful technical breakout above the much-awaited 1,618 neckline resistance yesterday, a further advance towards 1,639 (150W SMA) and 1,668 (200W SMA) zones is underway before profit-taking pause, taking cue from the vaccines' optimism, traditional December window dressing (average +3.8% return from 1990-2019 with a 87% successful hit rates) and the continued shift from pandemic-themed to a recovery-focused beneficiaries.

"Meanwhile, profit-taking pullback supports are situated at 1,618-1,600-1,587 levels," it said.