KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): The FBM KLCI lost 0.57% in early trade on Tuesday, extending its loss into the first trading week of 2015 as Asian markets tumbled amidst declining crude oil prices that also pressured Petroliam Nasional Bhd-linked stocks.

At 9.01am, the FBM KLCI lost 9.95 points to 1,726.67.

The top losers included Ductch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, UMW Oil and Gas Corporation Bhd.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 3.551 to the US dollar, still remaining weak against the greenback.

Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday as sliding oil prices and political uncertainty in Greece forced investors out of risk assets and into the safety of government bonds, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent while Japan's Nikkei dropped 2.0 percent, it said.

M & A Securities research head Rosnani Rasul in a market preview Tuesday said Wall Street started off the first week of 2015 on a wrong footing.

She said the bellwether index in the US tumbled sharply caused by rising political risk in the Eurozone and also continued softness in the crude oil price.

The S&P 500 and DJIA gave up a hefty 37.62 (-1.83%) and 331.34 (-1.86%) points to end at 2,020.58 and 17,501.65 respectively.

“Added to the soreness, crude oil price tumbled to the lowest seen in the last 5 ½ years due to the supply glut and weak demand.

“Most global oil producers including Russia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia have been accelerating its oil production with the aim to make up for the shortfall in oil price, refusing to bite the bullet in order to help price.

“At this stage, the negative catalysts are just overwhelming, leaving us to continue to believe that global equity market is in for a rough time, at least until the US next monetary step is clear,” she said.