KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 15): The FBM KLCI drifted lower at mid-morning today, as losses at Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional kept the benchmark index from advancing.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.29 points to 1,687.12.

Gainers led losers by 258 to 202, while 255 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 455.31 million shares valued at RM243.93 million.

The top losers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Daibochi Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd and Top Glove Corp Bhd.

The actives included Seacera Group Bhd, PUC Bhd, Permaju Industries Bhd, Securemetric Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd and Tiger Syenergy Bhd.

The gainers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Scientex Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, Keck Seng (M) Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

Asian stocks edged up on Thursday as a steep slide in crude oil prices which had chilled investor sentiment slowed, while the pound and euro were supported after British Prime Minister Theresa May gained cabinet support for a Brexit deal, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.15 percent. The index had declined 0.4 percent the previous day as plunging oil prices heightened anxiety about the outlook for broad demand and global growth, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian share markets closed mostly lower, following US losses on Tuesday while the drop in crude oil price continued to worry investors.

It said the local benchmark index gained marginally by 0.84 points or 0.05% to close at 1,688.41.

“However, broader market sentiment was uninspiring as 564 decliners outpaced 314 gainers.

“Overall technical outlook is bearish again as the index is below all key SMAs. The index is resuming its downtrend that started in October.

“From here, immediate support levels to watch for are 1,680 (S1) and 1,650 (S2) where a break below is deemed highly negative. Should market sentiment improve from here, key levels of resistances to look for are at 1,740 (R1) and 1,760 (R2),” it said.