KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): The FBM KLCI bucked the regional trend and extended its loss in early trade on Thursday, weighed by select blue chips including Genting Plantations, RHB Capital and Public Bank.

At 9.10am, the FBM KLCI shed 1.83 points to 1,887.72.

Gainers led losers by 147 to 75, while 159 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 113.98 million shares valued at RM100.72 million.

The top losers included Panasonic, Genting Plantations, RHB Capital, Public Bank, IHH, Southern Acids, Lysaght, Muhibbah, UMW and Hartalega.

BIMB Securities Research in a market preview Thursday said Wall Street recovered as investors returned to bargain hunt, adding that as a result, the DJI Average gained 49 points at 16,867.51.

The research house said this was despite the US GDP shrank 2.9% for the 1Q14, lower than consensus expectation of -1.8% as many had anticipated that the GDP figure would be weak due to the harsh winter.

However European markets closed lower across the board as the tension in Iraq escalated, it said.

“In Asia, stocks were also broadly lower possibly due to the weak opening in Europe.

“Locally, the FBM KLCI lost 2.78 points at 1,889.55 in tandem with the regional weakness.

“There was a trickle of foreign funds inflow yesterday amounting to almost RM14 million. We foresee the local bourse to stay flat today from the lack of buying impetus. Our high market valuation currently hovering at around 17x may act as road bumps for further upside. Immediate support is seen at the 1,880 level,” it said.

Elsewhere, Asian shares swung higher on Thursday as weak U.S. growth seemed to further delay the day when interest rates might rise, pulling down bond yields globally and pushing investors toward riskier assets in a desperate search for returns, according to Reuters.

A shockingly poor reading on the U.S. economy for the first quarter also pressured the dollar while giving a lift to most commodities and resource-related currencies, it said.