KUALA LUMPUR (April 10): The FBM KLCI drifted lower in early trade this morning, in line with its regional peers, weighed by losses including at key index-linked blue chips.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI dipped 1.65 points to 1,848.06.

The early decliners included Nestle (M) Bhd, Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Genting Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, MISC Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

Asian stocks edged lower as traders look for any response to the barrage of tariff threats from the Trump administration in a speech from China President Xi Jinping, and U.S. political risks reemerge. The dollar held losses, according to Bloomberg.

Indexes fell in Japan, Australia and South Korea in a muted start to Tuesday trading. Despite gains in technology stocks driving U.S. equities higher on Monday, the S&P 500 Index erased about two-thirds of its advance amid news the FBI conducted a raid at the office of President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen. Treasuries pared losses and oil rebounded from the declines on Friday, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview said US markets ended slightly higher after erasing gains from intraday rally as the FBI raided President Donald Trump's lawyer.

It said European stocks also edged higher after fears of a trade war between the US and China eased.

“On the local bourse, the FBM KLCI surged 12.70 points to 1849.71 points in line with Asian markets after investors shrug off concerns of a trade war.

“Following the mixed performance in the US and Europe, the FBM KLCI is expected to remain flat below the resistance at 1880 points with a negative bias,” it said.