KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): The FBM KLCI dipped 0.11% at the midday break today, as sentiment at the local market turned negative with sellers outpacing buyers.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI shed 1.88 points to 1,643.19.

Losers led gainers by 294 to 233, while 469 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.61 billion shares valued at RM735.44 million.

The decliners included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Mentiga Corp Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd and Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd.

The actives included Scomi Group Bhd, Priceworth International Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, EA Holdings Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Scomi Energy Services Bhd and Bio Osmo Bhd.

The gainers included Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Pintaras Jaya Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Lion Forest Industries Bhd and KKB Engineering Bhd.

Asian share markets consolidated their weekly gains on Friday as Sino-US talks produced a lot of headlines but no conclusions, while caution ahead of US payrolls and a holiday in China dampened volatility, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1% but was only just off its highest since the end of August. The index was still up 1.8% for the week and 13% for the year so far, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI Index closed little changed yesterday, edging 1.86 points or 0.11% higher, closing at 1,645.07.

"Market traded within [an] 8-point range between the high of 1,645.61 and low of 1,637.57.

"Price action are showing the beginning of a rally up and this is supported by technical indicators: 1) RSI (relative strength index) & Stochastic are at oversold regions, 2) RSI showing bullish divergence, 3) MACD (moving average convergence divergence) is steadily converging towards the Signal line.

"Anticipate the FBM KLCI Index to stage a temporary rally up towards the 1,665 level," it said.