KUALA LUMPUR (May 2): The FBM KLCI dipped 0.14% at mid-morning today, tracking muted regional markets.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI dipped 2.37 points to 1,639.92.

Losers led gainers by 360 to 180, while 298 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 674.50 million shares valued at RM357.74 million.

The losers included United Plantations Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Globetronics Technology Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, My EG Services Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd.

The actives included Lambo Group Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, Aturmaju Resources Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Hubline Bhd and Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd.

The gainers included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Mesiniaga Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, Can-One Bhd and Seni Jaya Corp Bhd.

Asian markets marked time on Thursday with two major centres — Japan and China — shut for holidays while the US dollar held on to overnight gains after the US central bank poured cold water on rate cut expectations, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.1%, trading in a tight band. Australian shares slipped 0.7% while New Zealand was up 0.4% and South Korea's KOSPI index added 0.1%, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian markets ended mixed as US-China trade talks resume.

It said back home, FBM KLCI gained 4.89 points (+0.3%) on Tuesday (April 30) to close at 1,642.29, slightly buoyed by gains in banking stocks.

"Short-term consolidation could be the case for this week trading, given momentum indicators still displaying some weaknesses as seen in the flat-lining of MACD (moving average convergence divergence) and RSI (relative strength index).

"A decisive take-down of the 1,660 (R1) is vital for the local index to trend upwards towards 1,700 (R2). Reluctance to go beyond R1 would see the index retrace towards 1,615 (S1) and 1,600 (S2)," the research firm said.