KLCI steadies at mid-morning, Asian markets mixed

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 5): The FBM KLCI steadied at mid-morning on Thursday
and was up 7.3 points to 1,511.25 at 10.01am, lifted by gains at select
blue chips, while regional markets traded mixed.

Gainers led
losers by 236 to 164, while 228 counters traded unchanged. Volume
wa332.32 million shares valued at RM231.13 million.

Meanwhile,
Asian shares and the euro eased on Thursday as concerns about the
ability of euro zone countries to refinance their huge public debt
dampened investor risk appetite ahead of a French bond auction later in
the day, according to Reuters.

The euro zone's sovereign funding
plans and US economic data, including U.S. jobs figures due on Friday,
are the primary focus for market participants to gauge whether investors
would take or avert risk, it said.

At the regional markets,
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up 0.08% to 18,742.43, Taiwan's Taiex
added 0.14% to 7,093.05 and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.39% to 1,873.41.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.61% to 8,508.25, the Shanghai
Composite Index dipped 0.07% to 2,167.91 and Singapore's Straits Times
Index shed 0.02% to 2,710.48.

BIMB Securities Research in a note
Jan 5 said attention on Eurozone crisis was back to haunt investors
again after a few days of reprieve, adding that the situation was made
worse from a weak capital raising exercise of '7.5bn by Italy's
Unicredit.

As a result, jittery sentiments resurfaced and wiped
out all gains made the previous day by European bourses as most ended in
the red, it said.

Wall Street fared better with a 21 point gain buoyed by improved sales figures from the automakers, said the research house.

It said Asian bourses were apparently affected by the weak European performances with most charted into negative territory.

'Locally, the FBM KLCI fell for the second consecutive days possibly suffering from indigestion amid an overbought position.

'Expect the psychological 1,500 level to be tested today and it is crucial that this support level is maintained,' it said.

On Bursa Malaysia, Nestle was the top gainer at mid-morning and added
40 sen to RM56.40; Timwell gained 28 sen to RM1.08, United PLANTATION
[]s and Dutch Lady rose 20 sen each to RM19.40 and RM24.20, BHIC 17 sen
to RM4.02, HLFG 14 sen to RM11.66, while F&N, Hong Leong Bank and
UMW rose 10 sen each to RM18.22, RM10.84 and RM7.09 respectively.

Decliners included Far East, KrisAssets, IJM Corp, Dialog, IIGB, Toyo
Ink and Hibiscus, while the actives included JCY, Proton, Astral Supreme
and HWGB.