KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): The FBM KLCI was down at the midday break on Wednesday as most global markets await the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) September meeting and Chairperson Janet Yellen’s post meeting remarks due out later today in the US.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 3.68 points to 1,843.62. . The index had earlier dipped to its intra-morning low of 1,841.05.

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers by 428 to 245, while 320 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.22 billion shares valued at RM1.01 billion.

The top losers included United Plantations, Dana Infra, KLK, Nestle, RHB Capital, Dutch Lady, Uzma, Shangri-La, Sime Darby and Genting Malaysia.

Asia Bio was the most actively traded counter with 83.81 million shares done. The stock rose 6.45% or one sen to 16.5 sen.

The other actives included Priceworth, GPA, DGB, Focus, Century Software, IFCA MSC, KTB, Pasukhas and Globaltec.

The gainers included BAT, Amway, PPB, Press Metals, Lafarge Malaysia, MISC, Sunway, Allianz, Hartalega and Narra.

Regionally, Asian shares were tentatively higher on Wednesday after Wall Street rebounded on speculation the Federal Reserve would maintain a pledge on low rates when a two-day policy meeting ends later in the session, according to Reuters.

The Dow hit a fresh record while the U.S. dollar took a knock after the Wall Street Journal's Fed watcher Jon Hilsenrath said the central bank would keep the words "considerable time" in its policy statement, though it might qualify them, it said.

Lee Cheng Hooi, Maybank IB head of retail research and chief chartist, in a note to clients Wednesday said the FBM KLCI tumbled 8.34 points to 1,847.30 on Monday, while the FBMEMAS and FBM100 also closed lower by 66.69 points and 61.04 points, respectively.

He said that in terms of market breadth, the gainer-to-loser ratio was 219-to-631 while 296 counters were unchanged.

A total of 1.94 billion shares were traded valued at RM1.75 billion.

“We recommend a 'Sell on Rallies' stance for the index. The KLCI Sept Futures moved into a larger 9.80-point discount against the FBMKLCI.

“We expect much weaker buying interest at the supports of 1,821 to 1,836, whilst heavy liquidation would be at the resistances of 1,847 and 1,868.

“The index is now below 200 SMA and is very bearish in the medium-to-long term, compounded by a bearish Rising Wedge breakdown too,” he said.