KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI fell 1.80 points to 1,338.92 at mid-morning Wednesday, May 12, dragged by losses including at Sime, MISC, Axiata, Tenaga and Genting.

Some 110.55 million shares valued at RM99.58 million were traded. Gainers trailed losers by 113 to 144, while 169 counters traded unchanged.

Regional markets were mixed following the overnight slump at Wall Street where the Dow Jones and the broader S&P 500 Index both fell in volatile trade.

At mid-morning, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.52% to 10,464.80 and Taiwan's TAIEX Index added 0.48% to 7,644.78, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.98% to 2,621.53 and South Korea's Kospi shed 0.01% to 1,670.00.

At the Bursa Malaysia, among the major losers, Sime and Axiata fell two sen each to RM8.61 and RM3.86, MISC lost seven sen to RM8.78, Tenaga down four sen to RM8.52 while Genting shed three sen to RM6.91.

Other losers included Nestle that fell 28 sen to RM34, Hong Leong Industries down 18 sen to RM4.50, Supermax down seven sen to RM6.83 and Proton which fell five sen to RM4.70.

Gainer this morning included Tanjong that added 16 sen to RM17.60, Malaysian Mosaic up 14 sen to RM1.40 and LPI Capital up 12 sen to RM15.50.

Meanwhile, Top Glove, Lafarge Malayan Cement, BAT and KKB gained 10 sen each to RM12.36, RM6.63, RM43.10 and RM6.15, respectively.

Berjaya Sports Toto was among the most actively traded stocks in morning trade with 5.82 million shares done. The counter rose seven sen to RM4.59 on reports that Berjaya Corp could acquire a 51% stake in Ascot Sports (AS), which, according to industry insiders, has the right of first refusal to the sports betting licence expected to be issued by the government.

HLG Research said in a report Wednesday that if the sports betting licence is issued, it expects AS to be one of the beneficiaries and will likely leverage on Sports Toto's 680 outlets for marketing.

"Unofficial estimates of the local sports betting market is between RM8 billion-RM20 billion and represents a lucrative market for AS should it be legalised. We are positive for BCorp should the development materialises as this will represent a new revenue stream for the group," it said.