KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 6): The FBM KLCI was down 0.63% at midday break today, in line with the tumble at regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI lost 10.63 points to 1,677.64.

Losers led gainers by 499 to 194, while 1,176 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.16 billion shares valued at RM845.29 million.

Top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, QL Resources Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Padini Holdings Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd.

The actives included Hubline Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Destini Bhd, Orion IXL Bhd, Techbond Group Bhd, Sanichi Technology Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd.

Gainers included United Plantations Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, MBM Resources Bhd, Astro, Carlsberg Malaysia Holdings Bhd and Heineken Malaysia Bhd.

U.S. stock futures and Asian shares tumbled on Thursday after Canadian authorities arrested a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei for extradition to the United States, feeding fears of a fresh flare-up in tensions between the two superpowers, according to Reuters.

The news came as Washington and Beijing begin three months of negotiations aimed at de-escalating their bruising trade war, which is adding to lingering investor jitters over higher U.S. interest rates and other risks to global economic growth, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI Index lost a further 6.72 points yesterday, closing at 1688.27.

It said the index performance was in line with its global peers, and that market breadth was negative with 251 gainers and 519 losers.

“The index continued to congest in a tight range between 1715-1675, lacking volatility for the past few weeks.

“The lack of confidence amongst local investors and the unstable US market may be some of the reasons why our index continue to remain sluggish.

“Anticipate the FBM KLCI Index to congest sideways with upward bias,” it said.