KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss at the midday break today, but remained in negative zone, dragged by Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI dropped 3.94 points to 1,564.5. The index had earlier dipped to a low of 1,562.45.

Gainers edged losers by 317 to 306, while 469 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.44 billion shares valued at RM689.53 million.

The top losers included Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Tenaga, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, Public Bank, NPC Resources Bhd, Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd and Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd.

The actives included Tiger Synergy Bhd, TDM Bhd, Mudajaya Group Bhd, Rimbunan Sawit Bhd, Sanichi Technology Bhd and PUC Bhd.

The gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Revenue Group Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd and Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd.

Reuters said Asian stocks edged up on Monday, catching some of Wall Street's momentum after surprisingly strong US jobs data although regional gains were capped by concerns about China's economic slowdown due to the prolonged Sino-US trade war.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei added 0.4% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3%, with Australian stocks and South Korea's Kospi up 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI ended last week on a positive note, gaining 4.86 points or 0.31%, closing at 1,568.44.

The research house said technical factors to consider are:

• price is trading well below selected key exponential moving averages (EMAs) on the weekly chart and on the daily time frame, indicating present bearish situation.
• shorter-period EMAs are trading below longer-period EMAs, which indicates a stronger downward momentum
• downtrend remains strong and valid
• technical indicators suggesting potential near-term rebound but a weaker overall market in the intermediate term, and
• price is now trading around support, which may indicate some presence of buyers.

Affin Hwang said that overall, considering all of these technical factors, a rebound in the near term is in the cards, but the overall market is still pointing downwards.

"Market might see a year-end rebound on selected stocks.

"Prevailing downward trend resumes. Index to retest 1,550 in the near term," it said.