KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): The FBM KLCI pared some of its loss at the midday break Thursday, but the broader market sentiment stayed tepid with losers outpacing gainers.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 5.49 points at 1,579.65. The index had earlier fallen to a low of 1,575.77.

Losers led gainers by 356 to 192, while 504 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.51 billion shares valued at RM814.2 million.

The losers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Heineken Malaysia Bhd.

The actives included Vortex Consolidated Bhd, Hubline Bhd, Yong Tai Bhd, Alam Maritim Resources Bhd, DGB Asia Bhd, London Biscuits Bhd and Mudajaya Group Bhd.

The gainers included ViTrox Corp Bhd, UWC Bhd, Coastal Contracts Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, PMB Technology Bhd, Mi Technovation Bhd, Guan Chong Bhd, Dufu Technology Corp Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets gained ground on Thursday after the United States and China signed an interim trade deal, while Philippine shares were under pressure due to the threat of a volcanic eruption near its capital city, according to Reuters.

Washington and Beijing inked the Phase 1 trade pact on Wednesday that will roll back some tariffs and see China boost purchases of US goods and services by US$200 billion over two years, the newswire said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI gained 4.54 points or 0.3%, to close at 1,585.14 on Wednesday.

The research house said the index retested the 1,575 minor support once again and managed to rebound from that level. This shows potential buyers interest at current levels.

"Moving forward, if the 1,575 level holds strong, we may see the index rebound higher leading towards Chinese New Year.

"However, if the selling pressure remains and the index continues to push below the 1,575 minor support, the index may soften towards the key support around 1,550.

"Anticipate the index to trade with downward bias," it said.