KUALA LUMPUR (March 26): The FBM KLCI fell 0.56% at mid-morning today as market breadth turned negative in line with the fall at regional bourses.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI lost 10.45 points to 1,854.77.

Losers outpaced gainers by 484 to 91, while 279 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 502.17 million shares valued at RM231.48 million.

The losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Jaycorp Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd, Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd and Hong Leong Bank Bhd.

The actives included Sumatec Resources Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Globaltec Formation Bhd, Sino Hua-An International Bhd, Priceworth International Bhd, Media Chinese International Ltd, DGB Asia Bhd and UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd.

The gainers included United Plantations Bhd, IQ Group Bhd, Sarawak Plantations Bhd, Berjaya Auto Bhd, New Hoong Fatt Holdings Bhd, MMC Corp Bhd, Pecca Group Bhd and Innity Corp Bhd.

Fears of a full-blown trade war between the United States and China battered Asian shares again on Monday, keeping the safe haven yen near a 16-month peak as investors fretted over the fate of global growth, according to Reuters.

Japan's Nikkei stumbled 0.9 percent to a near six-month trough in early trade, due in part to worries over the stronger yen squeezing export earnings, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders’ brief said tracking shaky external markets, the underlying market tone should stay cautious, reflected by the FBM Small Cap Index (-10.8% YTD) and FBM ACE (-14% YTD) performances.

“Nevertheless, ahead of the upcoming GE14, severe downside risks on the KLCI is likely to be limited (+3.3% YTD), cushioned by index-linked supports on heavyweights by local institutions,” it said.