KUALA LUMPUR (July 23): The FBM KLCI reversed its earlier loss and notched up marginal gains at the midday break, in line with the advance at regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI added 1.51 points to 1,656.91. The index had earlier dipped to a low of 1,654.02.

Gainers edged losers by 253 to 248, while 553 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.45 billion shares traded valued at RM834.18 million.

The gainers included Pentamaster Corp Bhd, LTKM Bhd, MBM Resources Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, G3 Global Bhd, Chin Teck Plantations Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd.

The actives included Excel Force MSC Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Green Packet Bhd, Vsolar Group Bhd. My EG Services Bhd, i-Stone Group Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd and Ekovest Bhd.

The decliners included Nestle (M) Bhd, JMR Conglomeration Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Cocoaland Holdings Bhd, Amway (M) Holdings Bhd, Eng Kah Corp Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets inched higher on Tuesday on expectations of monetary policy easing by major central banks such as the US Federal Reserve (Fed), according to Reuters.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is meeting on Thursday, followed by the Fed next Tuesday-Wednesday. The consensus view is that the ECB is gearing up to ease rates in September, while the Fed will deliver a 25 basis-point-cut in the July 30-31 meeting, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI Index fell 2.79 points or 0.17% on Tuesday, ending the session at 1,655.40.

"Market breadth was negative with 296 gainers as compared to 507 losers.

"Trading volume was at 2.65 billion shares while value traded stands at RM1.54 billion. The index initially fell about 10 points before paring much of the losses later in the session.

"In terms of technical indicators, on the daily chart, MACD (moving average convergence divergence) has already made a bearish cross and is heading towards the '0' level. If a cross below materialises, anticipate the downward movement to escalate. Anticipate the index to move sideways with downward bias," it said.