KLCI retraces losses as upbeat mood continues

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI erased most of the losses seen in the early morning session on the back of sustained positive sentiment in the market.

Global equities have been on a rise in the days leading from the US-China trade truce and a growing case for a US Federal Reserve rate cut.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 0.97 points to 1,689.08. Trading volume was 1.77 billion shares valued at RM811.35mil. There were 380 gainers versus 313 decliners and 370 counters unchanged.

Most active counters on Bursa Malaysia were Sumatec unchanged at 3.5 sen, KNM up one sen to 30.5 sen and XOX adding 0.5 sen to 5.5 sen.

Leading the decline was Nestle dropping 80 sen to RM158, Petronas Gas shaving 16 sne to RM17.38 and Aeon Credit dipping 16 sen to RM16.64.

Gainers included Yinson rising 24 sen to RM6.48, KESM climbing 15 sen to RM7.50 and Revenue adding 12 sen to RM1.54.

Chinese markets lost steam heading into midday despite an early rally on the prospect of further monetary easing in the US and Europe.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.3%, the CSI300 Index fell 0.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%.

Japan's Nikkei Index was up 0.3% while South Korea's Kospi Index grew 0.1%.

Meanwhile oil prices returned to a negative performance after strong gains in the previous session as data showed a smaller-than-expected decline in US crude inventories.

Brent crude was down 37 cents to US$63.45 a barrel and US crude dropped 29 cents to US$57.05 a barrel.

In currencies, the ringgit firmed up against a basket of currencies, growing 0.1% against the greenback at 4.1330, the pound sterling at 5.2014 and the Singapore dollar at 3.0493.