KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 8): The FBM KLCI retreated at mid-morning and erased its earlier gains, as regional markets remained cautious ahead of US-China trade talks.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI dropped 1.02 points to 1,557.98. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,565.16.

Gainers edged losers by 233 to 203, while 278 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 633.86 million shares valued at RM274.78 million.

The top losers included British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Advanced Packaging Technology (M) Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd warrant.

The actives included Green Packet Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, MNC Wireless Bhd, Icon Offshore Bhd, Priceworth International Bhd, Vsolar Group Bhd, Seacera Group Bhd and SDS Group Bhd.

The gainers included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Scientex Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Magni-Tech Industries Bhd and Jade Marvel Group Bhd.

Asian shares inched up in early trade on Tuesday, with investors cautious ahead of tense US-China trade talks while the Turkish lira slipped over concerns about Ankara's planned incursion in northern Syria, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.13% while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.53%, it said.

Kenanga IB Research said Asian stocks ended mixed yesterday as investors awaited US-China trade talk to begin later this week.

It said back home, the FBM KLCI gained 1.33 points (+0.09%) to end at 1,559.

"Chart-wise, the index is trading below all the key SMAs (simple moving averages) coupled with negative MACD (moving average convergence divergence) indicator, hence we opine that bearish sentiment remains intact until further signal warrants a trend reversal.

"Key support levels to watch out for are 1,550 (S1) and 1,510 (S2). Conversely, overhead resistance levels can be found at 1,630 (R1) and 1,650 (R2)," it said.