KUALA LUMPUR (March 5): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss but remained below the crucial 1,700-point level as regional sentiment stayed tepid.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI was down 3.74 points to 1,690.25. The index had earlier slipped to a low of 1,682.19.

Losers edged gainers by 271 to 263, while 255 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 673.29 million shares valued at RM346.56 million.

The top losers included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Caring Pharmacy Group Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd and Nestle (M) Bhd.

The actives included Bumi Armada Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd, Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd, T7 Global Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd and CCK Consolidated Holdings Bhd.

The gainers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, APM Automotive Holdings Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Coastal Contracts Bhd, Teck Guan Perdana Bhd, Harn Len Corp Bhd and SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd.

Asian shares stepped back on Tuesday after China cut its economic growth target and pledged measures to support the economy amid growing challenges from rising debt and a dispute over trade and technology with the United States, according to Reuters.

Australian shares dropped 0.6% while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.3%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said even though the trade deal could be ending soon with China and US striking a deal as early as this month, most of the positive catalysts have been priced in following the V-shape rebound started since December last year.

"Also, investors will be focusing on the rollback of tariffs by both President Trump and President Xi over the near term to reassess the trade developments moving forward.

"The Dow could extend the retracement towards 25,000 amid overbought technicals," it said.

On the FBM KLCI, the research house said the negative sentiment on Wall Street could spill over towards stocks on the local bourse and the KLCI is likely to pull back further.

"With the foreign trade participation staying in the negative region over the past five trading days (five-day cumulative outflow of RM597 million), we expect the upside to be capped along 1,700.

"In the meantime, traders may look out to take profit on selected O&G and export-oriented stocks which have rallied recently," it said.