KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 19): The FBM KLCI dropped 0.35% at the midday break, with index-linked glove makers leading the fall.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 5.35 points to 1,531.73. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,539.90.

Gainers led losers by 290 to 267, while 499 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.37 billion shares valued at RM915.21 million.

The top losers included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, United Malacca Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Ayer Holdings Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd and Scientex Bhd.

The actives included Powerwell Holdings Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, FoundPac Group Bhd, My EG Services Bhd, XOX Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, DGB Asia Bhd, Icon Offshore Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd.

The gainers included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, KKB Engineering Bhd, Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd and Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd.

Reuters reported that Asian shares and US stock futures edged cautiously higher on Wednesday, as investors tried to shake off worries about the coronavirus epidemic after a slight decline in the number of new cases.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eked out a minor 0.03% gain but spent much of the morning session bouncing between gains and losses, it said.

Affin Hwang Capital Research said the FBM KLCI dropped 0.04 points to close at 1,537.08 on Tuesday.

The research house said technical indicators remain weak, explaining that the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) still trading well below the zero level, and the relative strength index (RSI) and Stochastic continue to hover in bearish territories, trading below the 50% level.

“Reiterate our view that bias is towards the downside and anticipate the index to retest the 1,520 support level in the near term.

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