Stock prices across the region fell on Thursday, Feb 4 on renewed concerns over the pace of the economic recovery and Wall Street’s overnight losses.

The FBM KLCI ended 2.1 points lower at 1,265. Market breadth was negative, with declining stocks beating advancing ones by a 2-to-1 ratio on low volume of 621 million shares.

Actively traded stocks include MEMS, IRCB, Magna Prima, Gula Perak and Talam. Major gainers include Latitude, BAT and KPJ. Losers include glovemakers such as Supermax and Hartalega.

After large gains for two days – where the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 230 points bolstered by reports that the number of pending existing home sales rose in December 2009, Wall Street resumed its downward slide again on Wednesday.

Investors’ concerns over the pace of the economic recovery returned after a weaker than expected reading on the US services sector. The Institute for Supply Management’s services index rose to a lower than expected 50.5% in January from a revised 49.8% in December.

These economic concerns were also heightened in the region after an unexpected fall in Australia’s retail sales while New Zealand´s jobless rate jumped from 6.5% in 3Q09 to 7.3% in 4Q09, the highest in over ten years.

Despite being one of the most resilient economies during the recent crisis – and among the first to recover, Australian retail sales decreased for the first time in five months, by 0.7% m-m in December.

All eyes will be on the US unemployment report for January due on Friday, which will provide a better assessment of the labour market. Many expect the report to show a net gain of 13,000 jobs, following a loss of 85,000 in December, but the unemployment rate to remain at 10%.

On the domestic front, the upcoming earnings season will, hopefully, provide fresh leads for investors. For the moment though, domestic political events appear to dominate the scene.